[lbo-talk] Re: Don't Mess With Mom

[Chuck0]

marc rodrigues wrote:
> as someone who considers himself an anarchist, and who also regularly
> babysits relatives ranging in age from 5 months to 9 years, i have to say
> quite simply that sometimes, maybe even most of the time, you need to tell
> kids what to do and not to do. if they were physiologically and mentally
> capable of understanding things and living on their own then they would
> get up, walk away from their parents and fend for themselves after a
> couple days like babies of other species do. somewhere on that
> "manufacturing consesnt" dvd chomsky makes a comment along the lines of
> "some authoritarian relationships are justified, one of them being
> parent-child."  of course, it can go too far, but i largely agree with
> chomsky.

Sure, there are plenty of situations in child-rearing that call for 
control by parents. I babysit a rambunctious 7-year-old niece, so I 
understand some of the nuances. Still, from what I've seen from other 
parents and from my experiences, I still believe that there is too much 
parenting based on authoritarian needs to control kids constantly. This 
is what irked the hell out of me about that "poem."

Don't understimate how much you can accomplish with kids by treating 
them with respect, making compromises, asking them politely to do 
things, and understanding that kids will be kids, even if they are loud 
and annoying and inconveniet your adult life.

Chuck0