I don’t understand how a parent can just straight up tell their kid that they’re “ugly” or “fat” for no reason at all. Stuff like that haunts their kid for the rest of their life, and it’s never ever true. I’ve seen too many of my friends crippled by the words of their parents, it’s disgusting and it has to stop.
When I have children, I’m going to try my darndest to make sure I’m approachable. I want them to be able to talk to me about anything and everything. I want them to not feel intimidated.
Not to the point of being friends, though. I’ll still be their parent. I think that’s the way it should be. I don’t agree on parents and their children being friends primarily; those are not their roles in life.
But I want them to know that I truly care about them, not just drill sergeanting them to become good little clones. I want them to know the “whys” of things instead of the answer to everything being “because I said so.” I want them to feel and know that I have time for them. I want them to be encouraged instead of always only hearing “do better next time.” Everything I didn’t and don’t have.
My kids are so very weird and so very awesome.
My 6-year-old son has taken to making bags out of paper and selling them for a penny. Today, I saw this one and had to ask about it. Turns out, it’s his company name. It’s Basoby TM. It rhymes with “wasabi,” (which my kids love) and it’s a take-off of his nickname. You’ll notice the name is both registered and trade marked. He even purposely misspelled his nickname because we’ve had discussions about how some brands do that so that they can trademark the unique spellings (ex: Cheez Whiz). All of this was all his idea.
“There,” he explained, “the name’s mine. Now no one else can take it.”
The kid is 6.
Darryl’s baby girl brings a smile to his happy face… Keep Smiling ;)
As I sit here having packed so much underwear and clothes to ship off to sleep away camp in advance (as required) that my kids have nothing left to wear, Im reminded of this piece I wrote…
for was speaking to a woman I adore and admire, Jess Weiner, a self-esteem and self-empowerment expert who recently gave a talk to Youth Camp Associations.
She was telling me that one of the big issues at camps today is whether kids should be allowed to bring their technology to camp, and how cell phones, and email are fundamentally changing the camp experience.
Camp is no longer a remote experience where children separate from their parents and school friends. Instead, they stay connected to their old world, often not creating new friendships and bonds, sitting in their cabins, email and texting about how much “this place sucks.”
One child sent an email to his parents about what a miserable, horrible day he had. His parents drove up the next day and tried to pull him out. The child was shocked. He was fine by the time they arrived. Another group of girls at a camp where cellphones were banned smuggled them in. In their Pillow Pets. They were busted when the Lady Bug started ringing.
As the mother of a camper, frankly I don’t want to hear it if my kids are miserable. I suppose in my heart I know they will be at times. They’ll get over it. Part of going to camp is learning to be happy on your own. And dealing with the sadness when you’re not. So if we always give our kids these lifelines are we going to make them better knowing they can send a missive hoping to be rescued? Who are we helping? Them or us? And for the parents who think their kids need a cellphone for emergencies why are you sending them to a camp not prepared for emergencies anyway?
Believe me, I probably couldn’t survive for a month without my gadgets. I can’t survive a day without my Iphone. Or my Ipad. And I believe that kids can and should become well versed in technology. I also believe that there are times for them to connect with each other…I know we live in a connected world, and I pity my son the 5 hour bus ride there and back — but for one month, I really think they can live in a gadget-free universe.
LOL I have no idea who taught him that!
