Posted on 08/06/2007 9:09:46 PM PDT by goldstategop
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Not to want is a good thing.
However this piece seems to go way beyond that. Incredibly arrogant... telling others how to live, raise their kids, and what emotions to feel or avoid.
The obvious that the lazy and shallow (stupid)miss.
The thing is- I know exactly what he's talking about and I agree with him... for myself. I am a boring person, and very happy with that.
But I can't imagine telling others they should be like me, especially younger folks. Be yourself, whatever your age. Don't listen to grumpy old men.
He's not telling anyone anything. You can take it or not. He's a wise man though who's had a profound influence on my life.
Wet blanket Dennis would be of greater service to kids if they could hit him with water balloons.
I think Prager’s right on target. Look around our secular society. We are at the zentih of material wealth and leisure time. Yet as a culture we are a train wreck of social pathology and selfindulgence. Rich kids in particular tend to be major eff ups. Prager’s terminology may be simplistic but the core message is trenchant.
read later
I think Dennis is thinking way too hard. Maybe time for a break?
They'd probably find that exciting! Har har.
Christians call this “Joy”. I was taught not to seek happiness, but true joy and peace of heart and mind. They are totally different things.
“Rich kids in particular tend to be major eff ups.”
I’ll bet you got that from the movies.
It seems like many of my favorite childhood memories are ones of exciting times. Why take that away from a kid?
So "excitement" is Playstation, MTV and Ipod? The other activities are the left overs? C'mon!
At least Dennis knows school isn't exciting...
This is any interesting quote that agrees with you:
The Founders’ definition of “happiness” came from Sir William Blackstone’s 1765 biblically based definition: “[God] has so intimately connected, so inseparably interwoven the laws of eternal justice with the happiness of each individual, that the latter cannot be attained but by observing the former; and, if the former be punctually obeyed, it can not but induce the latter.”
Actually I see it everyday among my business associates. I work with many driven, succesful, wealthy people but many of their young adult and older teenage kids are unmitigated failures. By my observation middle class kids tend to fair better than wealthy kids for a variety of reasons. Obviously my kids are the exception ;0)
I liked the article... and yes I agree with lots of it. The excitement some children have or recieving is gift is jaded if they seem to be showered with gifts on a daily/weekly level.
Thanks for posting JSGOP
My six-point plan for rearing children
By John Rosemond
Summer 1989
Here it is in brief:
Point One: Pay more attention to your marriage than you pay to your children. In other words, put first things first and keep them there, where they belong and are more likely to last. If you’re a single parent, this translates: Pay slightly more attention to yourself than you do your children. You can’t supply someone else’s “warehouse” unless your own is fully stocked.
Point Two: Expect your children to obey. Stop apologizing for the decisions you make in their lives. Get back in touch with the power of the phrase, “Because I said so.” Stop trying to convince your children that your decisions are for their own good. Have they ever truly listened? Have they ever, despite all the eloquence you could muster, agreed? Essential to a child’s sense of security are parents who are authoritative, decisive and trustworthy — in a word, powerful. So get with it, parents. Your children are counting on you.
Point Three: Mobilize your children’s participation in the family by expecting and enabling them from an early age to make regular, tangible contributions to the family in the only form possible: chores. And along with making them responsible members of the family, make them responsible for their own behavior. Stop running after the bus, stop tying their shoes, stop trying to keep them from falling flat on their faces. Give them the golden opportunity to learn “the hard way” — as in from their mistakes — which is often the only way possible.
Point Four: Give your children regular and realistic doses of Vitamin N (”no”). Sufficient exposure to frustration not only helps prepare a child for the realities of adulthood but also gradually instills a tolerance for frustration. This tolerance enables children to persevere in the face of adversity, and perseverance, as we all know, is the key ingredient in every success story. Stop thinking that your first obligation is to keep your children happy. It isn’t. Your first obligation is to endow them with the skills they’ll need to pursue happiness on their own. Frustrate your children for success.
Point Five: Where toys are concerned, less is more. And the more things any one toy can be, the better. Too many toys, and especially too many of the wrong kinds, can stifle creativity and resourcefulness. When children tell us they’re bored, they’re probably trying to tell us they’ve been given too much too soon.
Point Six: Don’t be misled by the accolades given certain children’s TV programs. Remember, there’s more going on then meets the eye when a child watches television, any television. Give your children one of the most precious gifts of opportunity possible in this age of high-technology for the sake of high-technology: growing years that aren’t constantly sidetracked by the flicker of the plug-in drug.
Point Seven: What’s this? Point Seven? I know I said there were only six. Nevertheless, I can’t end without mentioning the seventh, and perhaps the most important, point of fall, which is: Love your children enough to do the first six.
http://rosemond.com/index.php?action=website-view&WebSiteID=389&WebPageID=9891
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