tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894764035439419656.post4660711239746201927..comments2024-01-07T00:04:51.972-08:00Comments on Humble Wonderful: Punk Parenting Part 1.Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412650446530771853noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894764035439419656.post-27690369847323177742013-11-26T20:41:41.588-08:002013-11-26T20:41:41.588-08:00It all depends on the age and disposition of your ...It all depends on the age and disposition of your children, but I think you need to be careful not to introduce complicated philosophies and adult concepts too soon. The job of a parent is to create a safe and nurturing environment to give your children a solid foundation on which they can built. "Routine" is a good example, practically everyone says that routine is good for children - abandoning it because it doesn't fit with my adult philosophy is likely to do more harm than good. Another example is developing a healthy disrespect for authority - instilling my primary school-aged children with a disrespect for teachers and police officers is also likely to do more harm than good - even though it might match up with my own philosophy which I'd like to explore with them over time. Once they're old enough to understand such concepts I can guide them along the way (at least until they rebel against me) but creating a pre-teen punk is more likely to mess up their head and disrupt their next phase of their life. You can't try too hard, too soon, to turn your kid into the person who wish you were - especially when it comes to adult concepts which they're perhaps not ready to grapple with. That's my 2c anyway.Adamhttp://url.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894764035439419656.post-75234477049169977232013-11-26T19:49:49.418-08:002013-11-26T19:49:49.418-08:00Lots of interesting ideas here. I find myself thin...Lots of interesting ideas here. I find myself thinking of your line: "They have no interests to maintain and no political favors to return" and think this might be a fruitful intersection with parenting. What I think is that inasmuch as a child is a blank slate (and yes I know we have genetic predispositions) then the parent has no interests to maintain with respect to the child. If the child loves dressups, then hey the parent can go with that, and screw whatever anyone else in the world thinks. If the child loves gardening, then so on. And I happen to think parents need to get out of the way. I may be only a very new father (child 12 weeks old) but my experience in teaching has shown me the danger of the top-down approach to learning. And what could be more punk than the realisation that everything for a child is up for grabs? I will think on this some more and reflect on my possible contradiction when tonight I attempt to teach my child a tolerance of frustration and a good sleeping habit<br />Dave Leysnoreply@blogger.com