Parenting the Pampered Prince
How do you feel about deadlines? As a rule, I don’t like deadlines but you must admit, they keep you on track and focused. Our pampered prince has a deadline to re-enroll in school or find a full-time job or else he has to move out. Big risk! Huge consequences! It was necessary because I continue meet you (other mothers) who are sharing horror stories about their sons who live at home expecting to be supported by their parents. Needless to say, these are men who are in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
I was proud that we gave him a deadline, however a part of me wants to continue to mother him, cajol, help, (fill-in-the-blank here) and yet how do I expect him to successfully complete this task if I constantly run after him?
What would you do???
Punishing Autistic Children
Did you hear about this?
When Sandra Baker was called to pick up her 9-year-old autistic son, Chris, from his Mercer County, Kentucky school, she was stunned by what she found: She says that Chris’s teacher had stuffed him in a gym bag and left him in the hallway as punishment.
“When I walked in,” Sandra told CBS News, “I went down his hallway, and I saw this big green bag laying in the floor beside the [teacher’s] aide, and I saw it moving.”
Then Sandra heard a voice come from inside the bag: “Momma, is that you?”
Sandra demanded her son be released immediately, but allegedly the bag was tied so tightly the teacher’s aide struggled to open it. When Chris finally got out, his mom says he was sweaty and uncommunicative.
Lydia Brown, a freshman at Georgetown University, is autistic, too. When she heard about Chris’s ordeal at school , she started a petition on Change.org demanding the Mercer County school district discipline the teacher who put Chris in the bag and require its teachers to complete training on interacting with autistic children. Click here to sign Lydia’s petition now.
At a meeting with school officials last week, Sandra learned this wasn’t the first time Chis had been stuffed in the duffel bag as punishment. The teachers allegedly referred to the duffel as a “therapy bag,” but lacking even basic training for working with autistic children, were unable to explain how confining Chris to a drawstring bag constituted “therapy” of any kind.
Here’s the worst part: after her meeting, Sandra says she rec eived no guarantee that this kind of abuse wouldn’t happen again — either to Chris or to other students in Mercer County schools.
That’s just not acceptable to Sandra, or to the 12,000 people who’ve already signed Lydia’s petition on Change.org. Lydia is hoping to deliver the petition to the Mercer County school board at their next meeting. The school board won’t be able to ignore this issue when they see the thousands of people angry about Chris’s treatment and calling for changes.
Please sign Lydia’s petition to get Mercer County schools to fire Chris’s teacher, and to get the school district to require its staff to complete comprehensive training on i nteracting with autistic children.
My Son The Pampered Prince
I always know when I have to address an issue because I start to lose sleep or the issue begins to occupy my thoughts. Well the white elephant in the room is my son. This son dropped out of an Ivy League school because he wasn’t completing the work. Our house rules for our kids have always been either attend school or get a job (or both). For some reason, he has lived on the very edge of those rules and this weekend things came to a head. The class he attended has ended for the semester and the part-time job he had, ended in November.
Now the rubber is meeting the road because like all of the other adult children in this family, he has to work or attend school or make his way somewhere else. Being a mom, I hate the somewhere else option!
However being a parent of integrity, I felt it necessary to discuss his plans and next steps. Our son was very tight-lipped during the discussion, however we gave him our goals and a deadline (to meet our goals). Loving him as I do, I really hope he finds work or re-enrolls in school.
I’ll keep you posted!
I Hate My Teenage Daughter – Pt 2
Here’s the gist of the new TV show:
“I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER is a new family comedy starring Jaime Pressly and Katie Finneran as single moms, best friends – and former nerds – who fear their privileged and overly indulged daughters are turning out just like the mean girls who picked on them in high school.
ANNIE (Pressly), who was raised in an ultra-strict, über-religious household where she had little-to-no freedom, pretty much allows her daughter, SOPHIE (Kristi Lauren), to do whatever she wants. Annie’s best friend NIKKI (Finneran), once an unpopular, overweight social pariah, is now a pretty Southern belle who also allows her daughter, MACKENZIE (Aisha Dee), to do as she pleases.”
Knowing a little more about what the show is about, I don’t have a problem with the show, just a HUGE problem with the title of the show. Considering that sensationalism sells, I don’t like it, but do understand that producers are trying to bring the issue of overindulgence by parents into discussion. As a parent, overindulgence makes you a great parent for the moment, but the feeling doesn’t last, and you send your teen, mixed messages about who you are.
What do you think?
I Hate My Teenage Daughter
As I was surfing the Internet, I saw an ad for a new TV show – I Hate My Teenage Daughter! It starts tomorrow on Fox.
Okay, so I know this is supposed to be funny, but having raised a couple of teenage daughters, there is nothing funny about hating your daughter. They may be challenging; they usually try your last nerves, but lovingly raising your daughter is a wonderful experience! Yes we had arguments and she told me she hated me at least once, but I parented her with love and consistency. I shared my experiences with her and I was honest; there are no subject that was taboo.
I guess I’ll tune in to see what the show is about.
Those of you raising daughters, what do you think? Let’s talk tomorrow…
http://www.fox.com/i-hate-my-teenage-daughter/?&sh=i-hate-my-teenage-daughter
MsParentguru
Parenting and Moral Character
As I continue to hear unfolding stories about the Penn State coach, it seemed to take Penn State students (and mothers – up course) to rally around the victims before the country realized that that was the thing to do. There was a lot of remorse about the removal of the head coach and the university’s president, but as a mother and parent, I wanted more gnashing of teeth about how our moral decline prevented us from recognizing that crimes were perpetrated against young boys – boys who would be scarred for the rest of their life.
How do we effectively parent our children if our leaders and elected officials are more concerned with how something looks in our society versus sending morally correct messages to our children by removing people immediately from their position if they harm our children.
Just my two cents,
MsParentguru
Kindergarteners Getting Suspended?
What’s amazing to me is the different age groups of children who are getting into trouble, to the extent that it becomes newsworthy. The morning talk show, The Talk featured a story about kindergarteners getting suspended in alarming numbers. When I think of kindergarteners, I think of 5 or 6 year olds who are pretty tame and wonderful to work with, assuming you have established groundrules.
Without groundrules and consequences, there is chaos for children of any age. Children, youth, and teens rely on the adults in their lives to establish boundaries to allow them to grow and mature properly. As I say in my new book, The Pampered Prince, if your only consequence to Johnny when he does something wrong is to say “No Johnny”, then you and Johnny have a problem.
What are your thoughts?
The Elusiveness of Predators
Reading that story about the Penn State coach who’s accused of having sex with several young boys, I don’t know if I was more disturbed that the innocence of the boys was stolen forever, or that the head coach and Athletic Dir felt it necessary to hide the truth for a few years; probably shushing the grad advisor who saw and told. In any event, it’s a tragedy on many levels. Those boys (now teens) will never feel safe again and how do we as parents protect our children against sexual predators who are protected by the places that employ them? MsParentguru
Trees Are Like Parents
My favorite tree for the last 10 years is dying. Every several months it loses a major branch due to old age, or high winds. It has been a source of comfort every time I look outside my window and I will miss her when she’s gone. BTW, she’s over 100 years old.
As I saw one of her branches in my front yard, I began to think about how similar trees are to parents. Strong, healthy (mentally & physically) parents have a wealth of knowledge and experiences to share with their children of all ages. When the parents start to falter, hopefully they have had time to see their children grow into adulthood and to pass along the wisdom that God has given them to share. cgw
Dads Are Parents Too
I just heard a commercial explaining that fathers had rights too! In my heart I know that that’s true, but I remembered how absent my father was when he and my mom first divorced. How empty I felt. Where was he? A friend of mine is separated from her husband and when he arranges to see his daughters, he often stays away. Fathers, you are the first love of your daughter. She learns how to treat a man by the way you treat her. Let her know you love and cherish her. Don’t fink out!
Staying Sane While Raising Your Teens 
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