When did structure become a bad thing?
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| Fri, 07-30-2004 - 8:19am |
We used to live next door to a "no structure" family. The kids ran wild in the neighborhood, the mom never planned dinner so lord only knows if and when the kids ate. Sorry, I don't think that's a good way to live. My kids know we eat dinner at 6:30, so they have to be home.
I can see taht you wouldn't demand that an infant go to bed and wake up at precisely the same time, but is there ever a time to impose structure on a child? So lets say you are the freewheeling type and have always doen things whenever. What happens when you send your child to school where the bell rings at the same time every day?
As far as activities, I realize all kids are different, but when my kids were little, if we just did whatever, whenever, my kids woudl end up grumpy and overtired. My experience is that if say, we were at the beach and I say, oh heck, let's just stay later, the kids woudl be happy at first, but by the days end I would end up with whiny, overtired kids.
Maybe I'm just misinterpreting what I am reading, but I personally think structure is a good thing. When children are small, the structure includes naptimes, mealtimes, etc. As they get older it evolves into boundaries like "be home at 6 for dinner" or "you can't go into soemones house without telling me first". I couldn't imagine living without structure or boundaries for my kids.
Susan

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If you want people to understand what you're trying to say, you need to actually SAY what you're trying to say instead of jumping all over US because you can't be bothered to write coherently.
Karen
"A pocketknife is like a melody;sharp in some places,
Karen
"A pocketknife is like a melody;sharp in some places,
Question: How can you guarantee your boys just get a half-hour of t.v. a day?
Answer: I can't 'guarantee' it.
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-pssahwoh/?msg=13988.381.....and ?msg=13988.437
(Posts # 13988.381 and 13988.437)
You are setting yourself up for some serious disappointment if you think your nanny is doing everything you direct her to do in the way that you want her to do it. That is not trust, it's denial. I didn't invent the nanny cam. I didn't write Smokeythemom's post on this board. Nor did I write Lauren1063's post here either. The only way to guarantee that my children have the most enviable of infancies/toddlerhoods is by my staying with them. Then I guarantee that everyday (even weekdays) is rich, spent away from the tv and happily with other children at a lake, shopping, museums, aquariums, playgrounds, etc., rather than watching the nanny's favorite 24-hr Christian tv station or with a nanny who claims to be crowd-phobic (never did hear of that particular phobia) or with my sibling's stellar nanny (they paid her $23K) who took 'em everyday for a morning constitutional in summer and winter but was a closet alcoholic passed out on the couch one day. No thank you, Ma'am.
Tex's "stimulating" comment was in response to P&H's claim that "TV is great mental stimulation here."
No, TV doesn't *have* to be stimulating. But if you claim that it is, you'd better back it up.
Edited 8/24/2004 12:33 am ET ET by lukeslawmom
dk
Dj
"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~
In any event, I believe your insistence that she said that her diet was healthy for all is erroneous, and that you have repeated that misunderstanding so loudly and so for long that (1) you are now absolutely convinced she actually said it and (2) you have convinced others that she has. I did want to clear that up.
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