Recycled post: Setting limits

-
I rediscovered this post from 2010.  I liked it so I thought I'd share it with you.

So - I'm the unpopular mother at the moment because I won't let my son (12 1/2) see the latest 'Harry Potter' movie.  He understands that it is scary and that he's probably better off not seeing it, but he said that he just feels left out.  All his school friends are off to see it at the movies over the weekend (or so he tells me - whether that is reality or not is questionable).

I make him feel left out a lot because we won't let him watch 'M' rated movies.  He has seen a few - at parties, friend's houses etc, but in general we'd prefer him not to.  I also don't let him watch whatever he likes on TV - again, seems to be fairly common among his friends.

I was also presented with the famous, "But All the other Mums are Letting their Kids do It" award last week by my daughter.  This was over a sleep-over birthday party that I was saying no to.  We had a bad experience last year where the girls only got about 4 hours sleep and as a 9 year old it took days for her to recover from it.

Plus what's left to do in high school if they do it all in primary school? I know that we're on the conservative end of the spectrum, but I do wonder if anyone's really that bothered about what is going into children's minds.  Are there any other parents saying 'no' to their children?  I'm sure that parents are saying 'no' - perhaps we're just doing it over issues at different points on the spectrum.

Comments

Eb said…
I wonder what will happen when ours finds out there is such a thing as a "But All the other Mums are Letting their Kids do It" award, and hears word that some kids think it might influence their parents by awarding it. More tough times ahead for both the award-ees and award-er I suspect.
January 27, 2012 at 12:03 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Confessions of an earl grey addict

-
Image
I have to confess in this public forum that I'm addicted to earl grey tea. I used to like the expensive stuff (Twinings) but because I drink so much of it, over the years I've had to buy the home brand version because I couldn't afford to sustain my habit. On Monday mornings I'd go to playgroup and have a cup of tea.  But one wasn't enough.  I'd have to go back for another. I'd visit a friend and enjoy the first cuppa.  But start to wonder if it too rude to ask for another, an hour into our visit. I don't have milk or sugar with it.  That just wrecks the purity of the experience.  I would branch out sometimes and enjoy Lady Grey or French Earl Grey for a treat.  But for everyday purposes my friend was the 'Earl'. But two weeks ago I went cold turkey.  I just decided that it was time to break the habit.  I have entered the world of herbal teas with all its strange flavours.  Peppermint (toothpaste dissolved in hot water).  Camom...
Read more

Going grey at 40

-
Image
I have written about this before , but after broaching the subject on facebook a few weeks ago I've been thinking a lot about the whole colouring your hair deal.  On facebook I asked when having natural coloured hair was going to become trendy like other old fashioned things like quilting and growing your veges?  I am quite tired of how time consuming colouring my hair is and how expensive it is. A very interesting conversation resulted with a huge variety of opinions.  Many of the women said they would be going natural, but of course they aren't gray now (and are my age) so I don't think that really counts.  Until you ACTUALLY start going seriously gray/white you can't see how it impacts on the way you look.  I think it is different to be almost white (like myself) at age 40 and agreeing in principle to going natural when it happens to you in the future (when you will be a lot older than I am now!). Just quietly, I'll believe it when I see it (let me thr...
Read more

Why I won't home school (if I don't have to)

-
Image
Occasionally I get asked what I think about home schooling.  Let me say from the outset that I'm not against it at all.  I was actually homeschooled for Year 3 because I wasn't coping with the local Indian school and I wasn't old enough for boarding school.  I have lots of friends who do it - some out of necessity (eg. missionary friends in remote places with no options) or out of choice (because their child doesn't cope with the mainstream school system).   So I'm fine with the whole concept. I have great admiration for families that choose to provide that education for their kids.  It is hard work and a significant drain on time and emotional energy (usually for the mum).  I also think that it can be a great gift for children who would otherwise get lost in a conventional educational institution. But why wouldn't I do it?  Partly because I did homeschooling myself and found it quite lonely.  I missed the social interaction of school a...
Read more