Weekend Reads: Consent for Kids, Alicia Silverstone, Things I Can’t Do Because I Have Daughters, etc
Hello hello, how’s everyone out in GP-land doing this week. Everyone okay? Great! Now, what are you looking for today?
If you’re looking for….a good take on parenting theory:
“The parents who read books about raising children are not the ones I’m worried about.”
If you’re looking for….a good book:
…or at least one with an interesting premise, try Parentology. I haven’t read it, but it purports to be part memoir, part primer on how to use the scientific method to be a better parent. Link goes to the review.
If you’re looking for….consent for kids:
Ways parents teach kids their consent doesn’t matter. Food for thought. (from Daisy)
If you’re looking for….a reason to get annoyed:
Read the Daily Beast’s roundup of the worst of Alicia Silverstone’s parenting claims. She does reference “Big Diaper” as being run by “corporate backed pseudoscience”, which was fun.
If you’re looking for….a list of things you can’t do if you only have daughters:
After being asked by many people if he wanted a third child so he could try to have a boy, this blogger put together “The Great List of Things I Can’t Do Because I Only Have Daughters“.
If you’re looking for….a crash course in how to name a baby:
Try this article, aptly titled “How to Name a Baby“. I don’t like the condescension about particular names, but it has some really interesting facts about trends.
If you’re looking for….an infographic to hang on your kid’s wall:
Try this guide to bad (or badly reported) science. To note: checking one of the boxes doesn’t make the study automatically bad, but it should raise some flags.
Feature Image Credit: Quinn Dombrowski
Sigh. . .Alicia Silverstone. . .I don’t know why we turn to celebrities for parenting advice often enough that publishers are willing to print entire books of that nonsense. Oh well, I actually popped on here to say thank you for posting the video about ways we undermine the concept of consent in our children.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to balance my children’s body autonomy with social obligations–I remember wrestling/tickle fests with my dad when I was a kid ending in my tears often, and I don’t want to repeat that, but my kids seem to love to play physically. At the least the video gave food for thought, and at the best, a nice way to roughhouse while still making sure that they realize that their “stop” will be heard.
I liked the consent article too. It is really tricky to teach older relatives how to respect your kid’s wishes without humiliating them (the older relatives), and damaging their relationship with your kid. But it is definitely worth using all one’s tact to support your kids’ right to say no.