Comments on: MotherTalk Book Tour — A Running Start

By: Kelley

Kelley — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:51:00 +0000

In some ways I think those CompetiParents are setting their children up for disappointment later in life. I worry that the children of those parents will grow up with a very narrow definition of success, and perhaps even an inability to derive happiness from the things they didn't have to "win".

Also, I think a lot of those kids who are early to excel above their peers tend to kind of average out over the course of childhood. Not every 7 yr-old whiz kid is still as impressive at 17 (let alone 27!). I don't think it can safely be said that learning earlier ultimately means learning more, at least in every instance.

By: nutmeg

nutmeg — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:05:00 +0000

I so appreciated this post and can’t wait to read the book. I also recommend David Elkind’s The Hurried Child which addresses the damaging trend of over-scheduling our children both at home and in the classroom.

By: Housewife

Housewife — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 03:24:00 +0000

Guilty as charged.

But moving towards change….

Slowly…

By: Oh, The Joys

Oh, The Joys — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 02:14:00 +0000

It seems like basic, good advice, right?

I think that is why I’m so against the tv for kids – I mean, I can just take them outside and let them pick up things, throw pebbles in the creek — or whatever — there’s 1,000 other things to do.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:53:00 +0000

Why does everyone seem to need a book to tell them what common sense so easily can communicate? Let kids be kids; give them pets to care for and love; let them get dirty; stop with all the antibacterial stuff, for pete’s sake. Listen to what your mom, grandmother, etc., tried to tell you from their experience… my mom and dad were not college educated — not even high school grads — but they knew more about what’s important than most “authorities” ever will.

By: Meagan Francis

Meagan Francis — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:13:00 +0000

one or two of the activities, that is, not the whole book…now that would have been a craft-tastic accomplishment!

By: Meagan Francis

Meagan Francis — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:12:00 +0000

I just remembered when my oldest son was two or three, and I used to buy tons of activity books and then feel really guilty when I could only bring myself to do one or two of them. It’s not that I didn’t hang out with him; it’s just that we were a lot more likely to hang out in the yard, or doodle aimlessly together, than we were to do really structured crafts involving paste and pipe cleaners. It took me a long time to get over my guilt and just accept that I’m not a crafty mama. Hopefully, my kids will recover!

By: Figlet

Figlet — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 03:46:00 +0000

See I’m a proponent of what I call “My kid doesn’t need to go to Harvard” parenting. At least so far. She’s only two and a half. Not that I plan to willfully discourage her from succeeding academically if that’s her bent, but yikes. We moved to a town that’s a little mellower than many of the NY suburbs. The community pool was actually a big selling point. I want my kid(s) to have the kind of lazy summers that inevitably end with a mad scramble to finish the summer reading list. Maybe by first grade I’ll be singing a new tune but I kind of hope not.

By: Gunfighter

Gunfighter — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 23:56:00 +0000

I recently led an adult education class at our church called "Death By Suburb" one of the things we touched on, frequently, is that today's suburbs aren't really what some of us suburban types had back in the old days (meaning the 70's).

One of the things frequently mentioned is that in today's newer suburbs, complete with subdivisions, there are few woods, and NO sandlots.

What a drag.

oh, by the way, my kid was speaking three kinds of Chinese and Latin before she was off the bottle. She is SOOOO much smarter than everyone else's kid.

Geez.

By: karrie

karrie — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 21:10:00 +0000

Sandy beat me to it–”Last Child” is a great read.

I worry about how to manage the activity issue as my son gets older. There is such little emphasis in most schools, and he really needs a great deal of exercise.