Strollerderby : parenting issues

College Parenting Guru: Kids Are Like Dogs; They Need a Whuppin'

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:53:00 GMT

Emmeline turns one next week, and she's already learning that a well-timed tantrum will get her anything she desires. More Cheerios. More play time. More heroin-spiked formula. So it was a great relief to read this bit of parenting advice from one Andrew Post, a senior and mass communications major at North Dakota State School Of Making Life As Simplistic As Possible -- NDSSOMLASAP for short.

Apparently I've been dealing with Emme's newfound independence with the wrong mindset. Turns out I've got to A. think of her as a dog, B. beat the crap out of her occasionally and C. force her to eat spinach so she might one day look through rose-colored glasses and see what a great dad I actually was. Thanks Andrew!

Here's just one of my favorite excerpts:

"I would be far less than a man today if Mom and Dad hadn’t taken the trouble to teach me some hard lessons.

"Parents who pamper their children and can’t stand disciplining them are literally following a recipe for disaster.

"Those children will end up (at the very least) socially inept losers. Like the people on “Jerry Springer.” "

I think he nailed it. (Oh please, oh please, oh please -- no one unearth the crazy crap I wrote in college ....)

Kids Today Think They're So Special

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 22:03:00 GMT

My daughter loves the mirror. Any mirror. Get her within eyesight of one and she drools. Bring her closer, and she smiles. Leave her alone with one, and she tries to eat it. I don't think it's narcissism; I think she's just weird.

A recent study says college kids think they're so special -- too special. We're apparently raising a generation of self-centered narcissistic brats who love eating mirrors and controlling the universe, according to these researchers. Only something called authoritative parenting -- whatever that is -- can get us back on the right path.

Elisa over at Mother Talkers has the right come back. Asked if they feel special, what do you expect students to say? "No?" Then we'd have problems. While I whole-heartedly agree with the recent New York Magazine parenting article -- the one about praising hard work over inate ability -- I still think David Brooks is behind this latest study. I can just imagine him adjusting his monocle and shaking his fist at my daughter's latent narcissim, "Kids today!"

Today's MySpace-Loving Teens: Perhaps Not So Dumb?

JasonAvant — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:32:00 GMT

Ah, MySpace. The bane of many parents’ existence. The site’s gotten an arguably deserved bad rap, thanks to its penchant for attracting all sorts of unsavory characters. But like it or not, “social networking” sites like MySpace and Facebook are here to stay, and have even spawned similar sites such as LinkedIn for professional adults who are looking to build their own business-related networks.

Personally, I can’t help but wonder if we’re worrying a bit too much about the teenage love for MySpace. Cooper Munroe talked to three teenagers, all girls in high school, about the role that the Internet and social networking sites play in their lives. All three come across as smart and appreciative of their parents’ concern. They provide some interesting takes on some of the positive aspects of such sites (“The cool thing about the Internet is that anyone you meet online will have few preconceived notions about you.”). They’re smart about the stuff they post to such sites. And they seem to recognize that virtual friends are no substitute for those found in “the real world”. Sounds like their parents are doing a good job.

Is It Safe for Kids to Fly Solo?

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 21:13:00 GMT

I read a book about raising daughters, "What a Difference a Daddy Makes." (Yes, yes, I know -- but I know so little about the opposite sex that I didn't think it could hurt.) The point is, the author said he never let his children fly alone -- even if it meant crisscrossing the country himself for no other reason than to play chaperone on United or, worse, AirTran.

At first I thought he was crazy, but I began to wonder whether I would do the same when my own daughter comes to "flying alone age" (11 months, is it?). My wife, Dana, flew alone as a child and now takes a measure of pride that she slipped away from her steward captors, hopped off the plane in Chicago and called her parents while eating a hamburger. Her parents ordered her back to the plane immediately.

I just read this story and think my indecision has come to an end. It seems an 8-year-old girl was flying solo on a Southwest flight and, because there are no assigned seats, ended up next to a touchy businessman -- I'm talking about you Ronald Evan Mays, 46, who lives in Palm Harbor, Fla., and also likes child porn. Mays was convicted of abusive sexual contact with a child, because he generally acted like a sicko.

This story aside, what do you think -- is flying alone safe for kids? If so, at what age?

Time Magazine's Hipster Parenting Article: The Blogosphere Reacts

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 16:01:00 GMT

First, I know, I used the word "blogosphere." I apologize. Second, in case you haven't heard, James Poniewozick wrote an article for Time Magazine last week essentially saying that so-called "hipster parents" are, as Aidin Vaziri of The Poop puts it: "douche bags."

Because Poniewozick singled out Babble as "part of the problem," as it were, you best believe that we here at Strollerderby had something to say about it. Those of us connected with Babble/Strollerderby also chose to address the article on our personal blogs.

But other bloggers chimed in as well. Mo Comedy called Poniewozick out for failing to see the irony of being a ~~douche bag~~ hipster parent writing about how lame hipster parents are. CrunchyCarpets writes a blog post which I think supports Poniewozick's position, but I couldn't quite tell because she makes a big to-do about her husband bonding with her kid while playing XBox. (Isn't that a hipster parent rite of passage?) She claims that the ripe old age of 37, she's an "old fart Gen Xer/old nerd" who thinks sites like Babble aren't geared for her. (CrunchyCarpets, as a fellow 37-year-old "old fart Gen Xer," please accept my apologies for failing you.) Brian is kinda ambivalent. And, of course, the child free sites are having a field day with such an easy target. "Hardcore!"

If you've read the article and have something to say about it please let us know by commenting and/or linking your posts below. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to take my kids to get new leg warmers right after they get their faux-hawks trimmed. Otherwise they'll look like complete fools at the Franz Ferdinand concert we're going to later. After we stop for sushi and colonics, of course.