Posted on 12/09/2004 4:43:40 AM PST by billorites
Correction. The lady's on the money.
Sadly, it appears to in my area.
As I drive through the neighborhood and past the playgrounds I wonder "where are the children?".
These poor hot-house kids are being robbed of their childhood.
Very true and quite annoying. We have friends and family who obsess over having everything perfect for their kids - and their kids rule their houses. My husband and I subscribe to the school of thought "if you center your life around your kids, you'll turn them into self-centered adults". We've heaped love, affection, and support on our three - but when they fall, we let them. Had to let our oldest spend a night in jail versus going and immediately bailing him out - so he would learn his lesson and hopefully not ever want to wind up there again. They've never worn those stupid-looking helmets when riding their bikes and I've never bought a drop of that hand-sanitizer stuff (being exposed to germs gives kids a stronger immunity to illnesses I believe).
I am so proud of my three kids - they are extremely smart, stand-up, self-sufficient kind of people - and are definitely not whiners. I love them enough to want them to be as prepared as possible for the REAL WORLD. It's tough enough out there, and as parents, it's our responsibility to prepare them for the world - not protect them from it!
Better still get the cars at the soccer game.....
ping
Amen. When my youngest kids and I moved to my parents home to take care of my mom, I thought about all the pick up ball games during summer and fall on my street. Middle of a summer day, no kids. It hit me when it was the middle of the day in July, and all I could hear were birds chirping.
This article is well worth the read, and definitely right on target. I could go on about the friend of my oldest daughters and SAT tests.
Well ... maybe I'm not such a bad parent after all. So I have permission to yell "Turn off the TV! Go OUTSIDE! Why don't you pick up a book? Bored --? So what? Then practice your spelling words!"
How much of this coddling goes on because the dads are not around or are disengaged?
DH here is very hands on ... and he also lets the kids do stuff that would curl my hair if I knew exactly what's going on.
Ann
Great article:)
Another thing is they are wimps physically too. Run to the doctor for every little ole bump or bruise. A boy that works for us parents ran him to the emergency room after he hit his thumb with a hammer.....Yeah, there was some blood, yeah it hurt, but the emergency room...my kids would have got peroxicde and a bandaid:)
Becky
Exactly. That thought occured to me while I was reading. Regarding those ridiculous bike helmets, parents will be fined, in some instances quite a bit of money, if a cop spots your child without one.
Amazing. This article is a viable explanation for all of the "Post Election Stress Trauma" sufferers here in Palm Beach County.
They are a classic example of spoiled, protected, self-indulged, underdeveloped, perpetual children with zero coping skills.
I hope they all go broke and their "therapists" all get rich. Serves 'em right.
VERY interesting! Thanks for posting.
I have bookmarked to read in detail later. I wonder if the article also mentions that so many seem to want to claim a right not to be offended by anything, anytime, anyplace, ever. Get over it!
I started preaching self sufficiency to my twin daughters at a very young age.
Starting with the Mama Gorilla story-
A female gorilla gave birth to a baby at a very late time in her life. She did everything for it - feeding, grooming, even after it was grown. Eventually the mother gorilla died, and a short time later, so did the baby....Why? Because she never taught it to fend for itself.
People don't realize what an injustice they're doing to their children by always doing everything for them and taking all the bumps out of living.
One of my daughters got infuriated at me one day because I refused to pack her lunch for school (which they've been doing for themselves since first grade).
"But Mom! I'll STARVE!" she complained
"Well, if your so lazy you can't slap a piece of meat between two slices of bread, maybe you deserve to starve!" I replied.
Some folks might think that was kind of harsh, but I refuse to have them grow up to become teenagers that sit on their butts and expect Mom to wait on them hand and foot!
Very sad - many parents (ex-wife included) will never let their kids play outside by themselves. When my ex did see kids outside playing, her comment was "The parents that let their kids play outside without their parents, are the parents who wonder why their kids are kidnapped." One of several reasons she's an ex. He kids (from a previous marriage) were hovered over to the point that when they were alone, they got into much bigger tropuble than if they had been given some space earlier in life.
Now, I never hardy see kids outside. I know they are here, I see school busses full of 'em. They just never seem to make it outside.
I like your style, Mama! I started teaching mine how to do laundry, dishes, and cook pretty early on - they had to stand on a chair to reach the stove when cooking with me (gasp!). It's amazing too - the more I've taught them, the more they want to do for themselves. Go figure!
Kids who are raised like this will be CRUSHED in real life by kids who aren't.
insurance company propaganda aimed at limiting liability: it's the Nanny State.
The public schools are working! The public schools are working!
There are now lots of damaged human resources for Big Nurse to manage!
Kids - only you can shut this ugly system down - the adults in your society are too far gone down the path of accepting socialism.
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