I'm loving this article:
The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting (Time Magazine)
I'd LOVE to have a discussion on this with fellow mommies. I constantly find I'm trying to walk a thin line between attachment parenting and free range parenting (to choose some named styles), AKA, how to be an involved parent...but not too involved. On one hand, I'm all for stepping back and trusting my kids, and letting the village help raise them. On the other, I hate it when I go to the playground and see parents engrossed in a magazine, while their kid runs a muck, creating trouble with other playmates. Where is the line between letting a kid figure things out on their own and work out their own struggles, and providing a secure amount of guidance and monitoring that they feel that they can venture out into the world with a good attachment to fall back on? Is this age-specific? Personality-specific? Context specific?
2 comments:
I think you do what you can with what you got, and you do it out of love. I do not believe that there is a right or wrong way to parent.
Wether you are a helicopter, attachment, or old school mom- I think what matters is that you create a loving environment for your children.
Really- as women do we need find more ways to judge each other?
Hey Katine! Agreed, we need NO more reasons to judge each other as parents. I have to remind myself of this a lot. I love how you point out that we do what we do out of love. I think the best parenting advice anyone can get is to trust your instinct, and follow your gut.
Still, I found this article to be freeing. For me, it wasn't about finding a "style" of parenting, per se, but in releasing yourself from all the white noise out there about doing right by your kids by driving yourself insane to provide educational opportunities for them left and right. It was refreshing to read about parents who realized that not playing Mozart for their infants on a daily basis would not jeopordize their IQs, and letting them watch a little t.v. is not going to prevent them from getting into college, and that cutting down on all the STUFF (toys, etc.) actually helps them formulate some independence and creativity. I'm all about it ;)
Post a Comment