Eff what these loser wackos are saying about Lisa Whelchel (Blair from "The Facts of Life") and her new book on child-rearing.Kids today are so out of control. I should know, I watched my parents single-handedly cripple my 19 year-old brother by giving into every last one of his tantrums.
I think Lisa is being too soft on her kids, in fact. The point of her book, though, is that kids need firm direction from their parents. One of the quotes in the book that has some child rights advocates up in arms is this: “Teaching our children to obey us and our words is primarily to teach them to obey God and His Word.” “Because the rules I’m instilling are God’s, I no longer have to respond with ‘Because I’m the mom. That’s why!’ I can calmly tell my kids, ‘Honey, I didn’t make up these rules, God did.”
Well, you know what? When I see 14 year old walking around in shirts that say "Party Favor" or "Property of Boys' Locker Room" I see a clear need for a smack in the face and a double-lock chastity belt.
So, I might not be down with Blair's right-wing Republican ways, but I respect her role as a mother who has to rear her kids in the age of MySpace, reality TV and child advocacy. Blair, do your thing, girl! And if that doesn't work, do what my mom did and beat your bratty kids with a jump rope til they can't even fathom another curse word to spew at you for not letting them watch The Simpsons.
6 comments:
Oh, please. This is not a child abuse manual. I am so sick and tired of all this whining about parents being too hard on their children. If anyone stopped me in a store when I was spanking my child because he's totally out of hand and can't be reasoned with, I would beat themn to a pulp. Ah, how I long for the days when I watched hours of uncensored TV, got to lay across the package shelf in the car, while my mom smoked cigarettes with the windows closed. And with all of that, I still believe in God, got As in school, have a good job and a monogamous, healthy relationship. Calm down, everyone.
Kids today are so out of control.
Boo hoo hoo. I've yet to see a single out of control kid anywhere in the past few ten years or so, not in all the public spaces I frequent anyway.
Maybe I havev thicker skin than most and just don't notice it.
If anyone stopped me in a store when I was spanking my child because he's totally out of hand and can't be reasoned with, I would beat themn to a pulp.
If I "stopped" you, it would be by taking a crowbar to your head first, after which you probably wouldn't be in any condition to beat anything.
And with all of that, I still believe in God,
Then you clearly have problems that simple intimidation can't solve.
Nice kittynboi. Just another person who can't distinguish between a spanking and a crowbar. Maybe this is why we have to have these laws: to protect kids from those who can't think for themselves.
Possibly a larger issue at play? The "morality" of my youth (HS grad 1956), is no longer in play. Coupled with the 1963 assassination of JFK, the Vietnam War, the "Pill," and Watergate, the prevailing morality was found to be wanting.
We're still testing limits, although some are being defined.
Regardless of the above, as long as parents, and the extended family, which includes, to some degree, the "village," instill a sense of personal responsibility as well as understanding of "do unto others" we will survive quite nicely.
Agape.
There seems to be a line of thought that dicates that you anything that departs from the, "no judgments, no rules" philosphy of child-rearing must be the offspring of a right-wing nutcase ideology.
Remmber John Walker Lindh? He is the product of that type of upbringing as well. My parents gave me no curphew, sent me to a good college on their dime, and were amazing when I came out of the closet to them. But there were standards I was to live up to. If I didn't live up to them, I didn't fear getting hit, I feared disappointing two very important people, and that kept me in line.
If you ever saw "Mean Girls" there's a not-so-veiled reference to this debate. Note Rachel McAdam's mother (hilarious Amy Poehler) who sucks up to her kids and never disciplines them. The younger kid is seen watching "Girls Gone Wild" and lifting her shirt up imitating it -with no parent being horrified (which, in turn, is encouragement) to stop her.
There's a happy medium between monitoring your kid's every move as some holy directive and saying "whatever you want, dear" to their every whim. It's called "guidance" and it's sorely needed these days.
Good point, Lorenzo. But you see what I was trying to say, right?
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