dadof3boys

I was spanked as a child, and I don't think it's a terrible thing if done in moderation.

But I don't spank my kids. They seem to respond well to timeouts and taking away privileges.

I might be overdramatic about it, but I think if I did spank them, it would change our relationship. Right now they trust me completely and know I would never harm them, but that they'll be disciplined in some way if necessary.

When I was a kid, sometimes I was scared of my Dad, and I don't want it to be that way with my boys. (Well, maybe when they're teenagers).

AmyBelle

Parents who make an example to you to their kid.
Yesterday in the supermarket Bek was sitting in the trolley seat, and she jammed her finger in the moveable part down the bottom, obviously she was crying and as I was comforting her this woman walked past with her son, who would have been about twice Bek's age anyway and says very loudly to him "Im so glad you dont throw tantrums like that in public, I must have done something right, unlike other people"

I wish I said something, she obviously was not throwing a tantrum, she was crying and holding her hand tightly saying "owwie owwie owwie" in between tears.

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Mindy

Oh my goodness AmyBelle, what a mean judgemental woman! I'm sorry that happened to your DD.

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"Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child’s spirit.”

Dr. Erik Erikson

AmyBelle

I discovered a new parenting pet-peeve this weekend.

We spent the weekend at BIL and SIL's house, they live in the country so when we visit them we stay for some time, they have two sons, a 5yrold and an 8yr old. They punish them by taking away a meal. It absolutely drove me beserk that their punishment for their 8yr old swearing was "No dinner tonight" and he sat without a plate watching everyone else eat then while everyone was watching t.v I caught him sneaking into the kitchen and grabbing a few pieces of bread, he goes to me "Please Aunty Amy dont tell mummy, im so hungry" so I snuck him some cheese and shaved turkey aswell because I felt so sorry for the poor kid, I couldnt help it, thats a lousy punishment.

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Xero

Uhhh, that's abusive. If their local children services knew that they were punishing their kids by not letting them eat dinner, they'd be out of that house so fast their heads would spin. I know all about that kind of thing, I was in foster care for years and even after being adopted I still dealt with them concerning my siblings, and my mom as a foster parent. That's so horrible, who would do that? I would just cry, I'm sorry you had to see that. Cause I'm sure you're still thinking about it. I would be.

I HATE HATE HATE it when parents let their kids be little brats and then blame it on the age. No way. I've seen just as many obnoxious little brats as I have sweet little angels, so there's no reason at any age that they should HAVE to be that way. Letting your kid be rude to other people or adults, letting them run wild in public places, anything.

My neighbor has two daughters, 5 and 2, and she'll bring them over. They're really cute and both very nice kids actually, but they don't respect my house, and she doesn't attempt to make them. The two year old runs in and picks up Eli's cup or bottle and sucks on it. Grabs the nearest bag or box of snacks and shoves her nasty hands in it (that will get to my next pet peeve). Grabs all my sons toys away from him and yells at him, and runs in our bedrooms and gets into things. Mind you, a lot of that stuff really IS how a two year old is, but that's why it's her mom's business to follow her around like "don't touch that". Instead, I find myself chasing her and taking things from her myself. I hate it. And her five year old comes over and chases my kitten and picks it up and wont let him go and is kind of mean to him. Her mom needs to teach her how to handle animals properly, she's old enough. That and she'll stomp up and down the apartment building stairs and make all this noise that drives me craaaaazy.

Next pet-peeve involving the same people. That two year old is ALWAYS nasty looking. She's the most adorable little girl I know actually, but every time I see her, her face and hands are covered in something she was eating or playing in, and her diaper is so full it's hanging down to her knees. Why is it so hard to wipe her off after eating and change her diaper every once in a while? Yuck!

I also I neighbors upstairs with a 10 and 12 year old that scream and throw things all day and night long, I swear. They say things to each other and their mother that if I did that when I was a kid I wouldn't be seeing the light of day for like a month. The girl and her mom will fight at like 3 in the morning and scream at each other and the kids will lock each other out on the balcony and beat on the door screaming, wow I seriously can't stand them. If you can't keep your kids at a halfway decent behaviour and noise level, then you should NOT be living in an apartment building, I'm sorry.

This is me personally, I know I'm a jerk and I don't want to start a binky argument lol, but I hate seeing older toddlers running around with a binky all chewed up hanging out of their mouths and all they can do is babble cause they wont take the dang thing out. I was at work yesterday and I swear this kid had to be like 4 or 5 years old with a binky in her mouth. Sheesh. It doesn't bother me up until like two years old, except I don't want to hear any complaining about your kid not talking, but I wouldn't let him have it that long. I took Eli's when he was 6months. I almost kind of wish I let him have it a little longer, but then not really. After two though, you're just being lazy in my opinion.

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Xero

oops

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AmyBelle

I thought of another one (haha, im on a roll) Xero's post reminded me of it...

When parents make excuses for their kids behaviour. Theres a kids at Bek's playgroup who throws things, thats his immediate reaction to everything he sees "Oh look, teddy bear" *throw* "Cheese sticks" *throw* "Lets go outside, oh look, a stick" *throw* and his mum is always saying "I cant do anything about it because he's just copying all the other kids" uhh no, look around, all the other kids are eating their cheese sticks, not throwing them.

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HappyMomma

I would do it of course, but I would be so temped to say... "I'm so glad your Mommy isn't a b___h like that lady."

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The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable.
~Lane Olinghouse

TAR

There are so many things that I see other parents do that I personally wouldn't or that I think is wrong, But you know I'm sure I do things that probably other parents think is wrong or they wouldn't do... (and I think I'm doing a good job at being a mommy and so do people that know me). Now i'm not talking about abuse or neglect, I'm talking punishment and over all parenting!!!! We all have to be honest here, we have no idea what we are doing and everyday we are pushed to our limits as parents. Some days our kids are the sweetest things ever and some days are not so good days, We've had our share of everything from tanturms to power struggles, and everything else that parents have to deal with. I can honestly say I'm doing the best I can I am not a perfect parent, but I try to be a good parent and hope that I teach my children to be good people as they grow up. And you know I'm sure those parents that do things we wouldn't do (remember not abuse!) are doing the best they can to.

Xero

Well by the looks of some people, maybe they should try harder.

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