Re: Taking care of ourselves (& our kids)

[Guest guest]

Wow, Amy,

You have a 'no whiners or complainers' poster in your 4 yr old's bedroom?  That

is tough.  My mom belonged to that club too.  Her philosophy was 'if you aren't

bleeding, I don't want to hear about it'.  It was tough alright, feeling

misunderstood and misjudged, but I'm 45 yrs old now and finally about 99% over

it.

My parents are absolutely wonderful people and I couldn't have asked for better

parents, but even the best can make unintentional mistakes.  There were so many

things my parents did right, like believing in me and teaching me I could do

whatever I wanted to do in life.  We were also not allowed to say " I can't " . 

Within reason, we had to at least try before giving up. 

I've heard other parents on this site describe using this technique (perhaps it

was or Jenn, I don't recall, but I respect both of them for their parental

abilities).  IMHO, this type of positive encouragement is a much more effective

way to help a child achieve success and avoid wallowing in self-pity.

Coincidentally, Oprah had a little boy named Dalton Sherman on her show

yesterday.  I found it very powerful and 'right on'.  Here's a video of him

speaking.  If you didn't see it, it's worth listening to him speak...