Being made to feel like an irrelevant child was probably an asset. Benign negligence is not a bad parental attitude or at least a cross between a benevolent dictator and benign negligence - you should just let kids crack on with it.
You cannot hold a child accountable to the same standards that you hold an adult accountable to.
Permissiveness is the principle of treating children as if they were adults; and the tactic of making sure they never reach that stage.
Never negotiate with kids. They don't have life experience, and they don't have repercussions for bad decisions; they still get fed and housed.
I am always suspicious of those who impose 'rules' on child rearing. Every child is different in terms of temperament and learning, and every parent responds to a particular child, not some generalized infant or youngster.
Just as the archetype of the supermom--the woman who can do it all--minimizes the real needs of women, so too the archetype of the"superkid" minimizes the real needs of children. It makes it all right to treat a young child as if he or she were older.
Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends.
When children are small, parents should run their lives and not the other way around.
It's really difficult working with kids and with babies because they are not cooperative subjects: they are not socialized into the idea that they should cheerfully and cooperatively give you information. They're not like undergraduates, who you can bribe with beer money or course credit.
'Dare to Discipline' was published in 1970 in the midst of the Vietnam War and a culture of rebellion. The book was written in that context, but the principles of child rearing have not changed.
I'm convinced that what kids need today are parents - not buddies. They need someone who will exercise mature judgment.
I don't think I'm being forced to grow up too fast; I would rather people treat me like an adult.
Don't underestimate your kids. Don't be condescending, because they're children but they're not stupid.
As an American roughly the same age as Barack Obama, I will not be ridiculed or reduced to a stereotype. I want to age appropriately.
I do like children, but only as people. Not as if they're a special category.
Young children are such nasty little beasts!
If we behave like the kitchen is for adults, they become more wary of it and reluctant to go in it because it feels like it's a grown-up space.
I don't agree with the whole 'my mother's my friend' approach, because you're their mum and there has to be a difference between the generations.
Parents shouldn't assume children are made out of sugar candy and will break and collapse instantly.
If you raise children, you forget what age they are. I mean you don't literally forget, but you treat a 13-year-old like she's 10 and there's a big difference in those three years and they can't stand it. They want to be treated like they're 17 when they're 13. And sometimes you can't help thinking of them as if they were 10 or 10 months old because it's all so recent. So we do overprotect sometimes.
So many times, these kids know more about the technology than their parents. And so many times, we're putting kids in very adult situations and expecting them to behave like they're 40 years old. Well, that's just not going to happen.
I really look at children as being little people and not necessarily things or people to control.
I have an equal amount of patience as my grade-school children, which is not great.
I think I'm a disciplined mom versus a strict mom. But also, that job - the disciplining was from birth until about 12, and at 12, I set my kids free, and they learned to become independent human beings.
Who would know but ten years ago that kids would be texting each other all the time, that that would be one of their main forms of communication. And so many times, these kids know more about the technology than their parents. And so many times, we're putting kids in very adult situations and expecting them to behave like they're 40 years old.
