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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There are several THOUSAND young women in Athens this week who would be QUITE offended by your suggestion that "normal girls" don't like sports and that gymnastics is acceptable because it's not a sport.
Karen
"A pocketknife is like a melody;sharp in some places,
Gymnastics is a sport, of course. I was talking about team sports like soccer, basketball, baseball, tball. Not gymnastics.
My reply "she likes to do things other little girls do" is not in response of how you took it. YOu can twist my words anyway you like, the fact will still reamin you just misread & misunderstood what I was saying.
My little girl likes to run, play tag, play on the swings, play hopscotch, play barbies, baby dolls, color. Like other little girls do. That includes gymnastics, dance. As I stated directly.
"So she has no interest in sports" I was, to explain again, referring to organized team sports like soccer, tball, basketball.
I meant no offense to any women or girls. I mean no offense either when I say, our family will not be viewing any of the Olympics. We all just hate sports. We flip the channel when watching the news & it is time for the sport coverage. No interest at all. My dh finds it all quite boring.
One of my nieces is quite athletic. She has always played basketball & baseball. Several of the little girls in my kindergarten play soccer in the fall & spring leagues. They play other team sports. DD has little girl friends that play team sports.
Paige
Edited 8/14/2004 11:43 pm ET ET by paigeandhannah
And I suppose that not one person there, out of all 17 girls and their parents, was overweight or had health problems, right? ;)
That absolutely says that little girls IN GENERAL don't like sports. You go on to say that she DOES like gymnastics. Well, if she doesn't like sports, but DOES like gymnastics, you are saying that gymnastics is not a sport.
spin all you like,, but it's YOUR post and it absolutely says your little girl likes what OTHER little girls like--and it's not sports.
Karen
"A pocketknife is like a melody;sharp in some places,
Karen
"A pocketknife is like a melody;sharp in some places,
Okay. . .so maybe my math skills are rusty, but assuming Paige sleeps 8 hours per day (leaving 16 waking hours), how is watching TV 3 hours per night (7-10 pm) 37-44% of her waking day?
I don't know a single other mother IRL who doesn't in some way struggle with issues concerning kids and television watching, and I know a lot of mothers.
This is beyond bizarre. It has GOT to be a joke.
dj
Dj
"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~
What is your point?
Paige
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