does anyone else see this phenomena as kind of odd? Fifty, sixty, hundred years ago you didn't have fifty thousand pounds of parenting guides. Now you can't swing a dead cat without hitting some book about spirited children or how to attachment parent your kid properly or whatever. As if some guy who's never met my kid knows the way to discipline him.
The only parenting guide I've read is Dr. Spock, and that's mostly in a "what is this weird thing going on with Otto's eye" way. Whenever we get around to potty training I may look at a few, but for the day-to-day tantrums and the like, I'll stick with my own brand of "instinctive parenting".
Posted by Whitney at April 29, 2003 11:51 PMFrankly, I just don't get it. I dont' own a parenting book, and unless something comes up (like potty training, or having a teenager LOL), I don't plan to buy one. What is so wrong with going with your gut instincts when it comes to raising kids? We all should know right from wrong. We all should have common sense. We all should have gut instincts when it comes to what is too harsh or too lenient or too whatever.. As long as we are not physically harming our children (or emotionally), then why spend $$$ on a book to tell us what kind of parent to be?
Posted by: steph at May 3, 2003 08:40 PMI look at it this way ... some people are insecure enough as parents that they need the reassurance. I'm insecure about other things, so I can't really slight them for that.
What bothers me is when people use what they read in books to criticize or condemn what other people are doing. Just because it's in print doesn't make it the final and absolute.
Posted by: erin at May 6, 2003 09:19 AM