As I sit on my neighbors couch this Friday night, scrounging up a topic for my first ever blog post, I find myself running through the checklist I was given by the parents I am babysitting for. I am terrified I left a requirement out that one of the kids would blab about to their overprotective parents, and they would proceed to have a panic attack. I was to let them to watch no more than 15 minutes of TV, feed them dried fruit for dessert, put a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads on them for our small bike ride, watch them like a hawk at all times, give them a spoonful of fish oil before bed, have them in bed by 7:30 sharp, turn on their sound machines, read an educational, and enthralling novel about the importance of washing one's hands, and not to deviate from the schedule . I was a nervous wreck chasing after these adorable kids-so concerned that one of them might get a dreaded scratched knee...or even worse: a grass stain on their little khaki shorts.
I watched as the kids asked for permission every move they made, and never dared to test the boundaries of their parent's guidelines. Of course, this makes for very polite kids, yet not very self reliant ones. Pretty much everything is handed to them on a silver platter, and their choices are very limited. When I think back to my summers as a youngster, I picture myself running around the neighborhood barefoot and snarfing down goldfish and popsicles. It really got me thinking about the kind of American is being raised in our society today. While not all children are this way, many seem coddled, afraid to experiment, afraid to blaze their own trail. What are the values parents are showing their children are most important? What type of personality will this nurture?
So to all of the helicopter, paranoid mothers out there: I understand that you want to keep your kids safe, and healthy, but don’t you also want them to be independent, and productive? These core American values need to be stressed in today’s culture in order to shape the society of tomorrow.
Wow. I have babysat for uptight parents' children before, but never like this. I agree with you; my memories from growing up are getting dirty, watching Spongebob, and eating ice cream. Not to say my parents weren't strict, they were, but they were able to find a happy medium in order to round out my activities.
ReplyDeleteThis family's situation kind of makes me sad in a way. It almost makes me think these children aren't getting a real childhood; aren't able to experience the beauty of life as a kid. Maybe this is only because my childhood was SO different. I just hope these parents grow to tone it down a bit, and let their children enjoy the carefree, fun life they have while they still can.