Parenting today seems to be constantly getting a bad rap. It seems like every day I am inundated with another article telling us exactly what we are doing wrong. All these articles seem to be shared by teachers and well meaning grandparents who somehow don't see the plank coming out of their own eye (of course that is another subject for probably not another day). Parents are made to sound like all we do these days is shove lollipops in our kids mouths while showering them with every toy toysrus offers, as they stare mindlessly at the tv/ipad all day. Yep, that's pretty much how myself and everyone I know are raising kids.
First, I want to address something that always seems to get under my skin. Do the grandparents of today not remember throwing gameboys and gamegears at us in the car? I remember playing my gameboy until the batteries inevitably died. I even had a light that strapped on to the screen to light it up at night. Or, on long trips, my parents would hook up a tv in the car for us to watch movies on while we drove. And I came from a family that was pretty strict about tv while I was growing up. But our generation never stared at screens, right? I'm not saying tv and ipads should be used all day long, but moderation people.
Around me, I see a lot of moms concerned about what their kids eat, what they put on their kids skin. I see moms caring about safety, while grandmas balk "how did our kids ever survive?!" That one ALWAYS gets to me. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know regulations and laws are passed because of those that didn't survive, not those that are fine. I see moms taking their kids on adventures and playing with their kids in the backyard. When was the last time you were at the library? The kids section is always busy.
Sure, kids today may not get to play out in the road as much. But people drive horribly fast through my neighborhood. Plus, we all fear cps being called on us for any sort of reason. It happens, trust me. One of my friend's had the cops called on her for her kid crying for too long. When she explained she was showering and her two year old was throwing a fit over her showering, the cops were like peace out. But still, calling the cops?! And that's not the only person I know who has pointlessly had cps called on them.
Parenting is hard. I am sure it was hard when I was a kid, just as I am sure it was hard when my parents were kids. Each generation of parenting has its own set of challenges. Maybe we should all take a deep breath and instead of constantly attacking "parents these days" maybe offer a helping hand. You know, use some of that advice you want to dish out on your own grandchildren. Or even just tell a parent they are doing a good job from time to time. Positivity goes a long way.
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