Parenting

I think something has happened to parenting. I'm talking about all the therapy little girls seem to need to feel beautiful. According to a commercial, all sorts of girls stop doing something they like because they don't like their body.

Now, if I had said to my Mom. "I'm not going to the beach because I hate my body." She would have said "Don't be silly. You look fine. Would you rather be like Miss Skinny Minny who can't even keep their bones warm."

What I'm saying is, when did parents let childish insecurities get in the way of their children's progress. The idea in the old days was to get the kid out having fun and they would forget their anguish. Well, I'm not saying that you shouldn't help your children through their fears, but why coddle them so much that they're afraid to live?

Besides, there's a lot of other things to build self-esteem on. Like learning the piano. And speaking of that, when did the blame for all this fall on show biz. Or fashion.

I have an opinion which I don't let out too much because I don't think many young women would appreciate it. Now, I have three nephews who have girlfriends and all three are raising children.

They are the most polite, the nicest kids. Their self-esteem is very high. Why? I'll give my opinion, in all three families, the parents can't wait to get up in the morning to be with their kids. They rush home from work to play with them. In two families, the women have chosen to stay home with their 'babies'.

To move on a bit. How many times do you see shows telling parents to get away from the kids for a romantic weekend. It makes me think that the difference and problem with self-esteem comes from the parents.

Your mother loves you the most, right? Well, suppose the person who loves you the most, doesn't want to be with you? How does that rate in a child's mind. "I'm not good enough, even my Mom doesn't want to be with me.' Maybe?

So in my opinion, I think you shouldn't have kids until you know that you want to spend so much time with them. All your time. Give them all sorts of attention. Do things with them, don't stick them in front of the TV. One of my nephews doesn't even have a television and no video games, they're always out hiking or mountain climbing.

So throw sticks at me if you want. Show biz is not to blame. Adults are.