Posted by Prue Eckett on October 05, 2005 at 04:56:18 from 222.153.30.65 user PrueEckett.
In Reply to: AR and Children posted by John Nichols on October 04, 2005 at 03:03:49:
Depends on where they are brought up and what sort of parents they have. I was brought up in a very regimented household (father being a child of WW1, the Depression and a single parent family, and 48 when his own first child was born)and as a parent I tended to lean towards the opposite.
I can already hear the heavy sighs and imaginings that my children are spoiled noisy brats.
Sorry, we expected good behaviour from them but didn't do the 'blame' game that many parents fall into, trying to find out why a child does things. Who knows - they certainly don't. Also we never treated our children equally - sometimes one got more than the other and sometimes one got nothing because it wasn't suitable for their age, interests or gender.
Now 23 and 26, they've both worked and travelled around the world and are now finishing off post-grad degrees, hers in child psychology and education, his in English.
And, they are nice people, which for me is the most important thing.
Their friends, some of whom we've known since they were in nappies, are also nice people. Are we unusual? I don't think so. I think the media ignores the majority of good kids and focuses on the troubled ones. And there's no doubt you see a whole lot of brats in public, behaving like ... well, brats. But past them walk normal nice kids, loads of 'em!