Hugh Akston Posted November 16, 2013 Posted November 16, 2013 I got to discuss parenting as I walked into the refinery where we work with my colleague the other morning. We got to talk about our grandchildren and I was mentioning the interesting parenting techniques my daughter is practicing (teaching baby sign language, playing calm music before bed time etc. etc.). My colleague made the comment that it is interesting how things have changed, as he said: "When we were children, we were ignored". I agreed with him that was exactly my experience growing up, with the mantra "children should be seen but not be heard" often repeated in conversation. I found it quite interesting that he, an Assyrian from Iran would have such a similar experience of childhood as I, a white protestant boy growing up in the back streets of Johannesburg. He commented that it was interesting that despite these drawbacks, we are both working as highly paid engineers and we were lamenting the great achievements that probably were denied us, had we had the advantage of skilled parenting (on the other hand it does not escape my attention that some of the great achievers seem to be those with the worst parenting imaginable). I wonder if the modern parenting ideas are also spreading as far and wide as those old-fangled ideas seems to have spread in the past? I do not know whether it is my prejudice based on my upbringing, but I still retain some of the skepticism regarding modern parenting ideas as I remember when raising my own children having contact with liberal parents (typically of anglo heritage), proclaiming to everyone who would listen how they never hit their children and then notice how my children grew to be independent, well behaved and courteous with others whilst their children turned into the proverbial "spoiled brats" who's anti-social behaviour was evidently self-destructive and disruptive to order in their own lives (but I guess you can never tell what was in truth happening behind closed doors in those children's lives).
DanielJPetrik Posted November 17, 2013 Posted November 17, 2013 What do you mean by "modern parenting practices?" I know one school of thought is that children are wild animals that need to be civilized, and the other--which I think Stef adovacated-- that children are curious and are only expressing their basic needs. I've tried to eschew the former and practice the latter, but I am not having good results-- especially with my 4 year old. Which do you call the modern practice?
Hugh Akston Posted November 18, 2013 Author Posted November 18, 2013 By modern practice I mean what Stef and most progressive states advocate these days.
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