Grouchy Articles of the Day

[azurelunatic]

Overcontrolling parents can be bad for kids. Duh.

Not my literature, they're not. Anyone feel like helping me convince my blonder half to move to Scotland or Canada?

Comments

[bekijane.livejournal.com]

I'll post lots of lovely pics of wonderful countryside :-)

[azurelunatic]

Excellent.

My friend Shannon tells me that it's actually quite a bit like Alaska. My next comment to John, in an accusing tone of text: "You didn't tell me you had fireweed!"

[bekijane.livejournal.com]

:-( it's not native here and because of that I dislike it, but yes the hills are ablase with it all through the summer, and I'm trying to get shot of it from the garden too.

[azurelunatic]

It's native back home, and it's so pretty, and it makes very good honey.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

Do you have any idea how hard it can be NOT to be overprotective these days? I felt strongly that dealing with failure when richly deserved was an important lesson for K- and NO ONE backed me up on it. NO ONE. "It would be bad for her self-esteem!" they insisted, so her self-esteem thrives while her basic competence is abysmal.

Seriously, teachers etc. were outraged when I tried to ensure k reaped the consequences of what she sowed, like being a bit chilly when she refused to wear a jacket on a cool- but not cold- day (I was called into the principal's office and berated), or begged them to flunk her when she refused to do any of the work. K called Child Protective Services on us when she was 8 because writing sentences (like Bart does at the beginning of the Simpsons) was something she hated; while the CPS person didn't really have reason to object to that, we wer apparently abusive for letting her go without supper a couple of times WHEN SHE REFUSED TO EAT.

Society is so determined to turn kids into wimps that it's almost impossible to a parent to buck the trend, at least around here.

[azurelunatic]

I think it's easier to raise a non-wimp when the kid's cooperating. K does not seem to cooperate with anyone about anything.

[firefly-124.livejournal.com]

Sure, I can help with the Scotland convincing. Got some old vacation pics here: http://people.delphiforums.com/DANCEFIREFLY/WebAlbum1.html . The first few pages are Scotland, and then continue South into England. After about page 14 or so, there are a lot of tag screwups, but that's well past the last of the Scotland pics.

[dawn-again.livejournal.com]

I've been ranting and raving about people keeping their kids in a bubble for over a decade now.

[azurelunatic]

I had my fair share of skinned knees and twisted ankles when I was a kid. I was ever-so-peeved when they put gravel all over the perfectly good playground at school...

[wibbble]

elance and I both go past Rockstar North's offices every day. There's several universities which do courses on video game design - and they were the first in the world to do it.

Rockstar North aren't the only computer games company in Edinburgh either - there's another one that makes what are considered the best historical wargames available (complete with state of the art AI).

[azurelunatic]

Ooo. You know what my bondmate wants, it seems. *grin*

psychology

[aratina.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize that unregulated thought patterns cause or maintain depression. Thanks for the link.

The word used to be overprotective, now it's overcontrolling. I think that the latter is more useful because it shows how protecting one's children from reality is actually a form of control over those children's lives. It makes you think about the hurtful consequences rather than the helpful intentions.

Re: psychology

[azurelunatic]

My parents used to talk about "The Golden Hand Award", which would be presented to parents who shoved their children into all sorts of activities and made them be little walking "practically perfect" dolls. They were not thrilled with these parents, but recognized that what they'd done was some form of accomplishment...