Our Family's a Zoo, Wii Fun

[buffyfan30]

Last night while Casey was in youth group, the church had a parent info session called Navigating The Middle School Years. It was pretty interesting and the lady who ran it (certified mental health counselor) seemed to really know what she was talking about. You can't get much out of an hour though. She is giving a free 6 week course on

Comments

[sweetpeatn]

I don't have a problem with parenting discussions, what I do have a problem with are the ones that are led by professionals. Most of the ones I've come in contact with seem to think there is only 1 right way to raise a child and anything different is wrong, neglectful and/or abusive. You know there is no handbook for raising a child. I like parenting groups where everyone shares their ideas and philosophies and no one gets judged too harshly.

Even when there are 4 of us in the house, we are very laid back and non-structured. We eat at the same time, usually, but the Squid and Buddy usually do it while playing WoW and the Doodlebug and I will sit together and watch TV. Now that the 4 of us being together only happens 3 times a year I'm a little more strict and we eat together.

[buffyfan30]

Yeah, it was hard to tell in such a short time if she was like that, but she seemed okay to me. She just went over some parenting styles... first was authoritarian, which is my way is the only way, you WILL respect me because I am the parent, etc. She said kids under that kind of control are either going to rebel or they are going to go along with what you say, but never become their own person and won't be able to be independant when they grow up. Then there's Permissive, which is the opposite and the whole "my kids is my best friend!" attitude. I think I do lean a that way, but not to an extent where it's a problem. And then the one she said was best was Authoritative, which kind of a happy medium.

I did hear 2 men behind me grumbling a lot. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but I have a feeling they were more Authoritarian and took offense to her saying that was wrong.

[glass_lion]

I really, really like how you both can feel assertive about your family style (dinner hour just like our fam!), AND both of you talk about it. :)))