Soft parenting
Agree wholeheartedly. Until very recently, one of Sweary Junior's mates would sit there while his mother got on her knees and put his shoes on for him. I kid you not. He was 10 at the time, for fuck's sake.

The trouble is, so many kids these days ask for something (say, a drink) and rather than telling their offspring that they know where the juice lives and how to turn on a tap, they totter of and do it for them. Fair enough for a toddler perhaps, but once they've mastered the art of hand-to-eye coordination, fuck 'em - they can do it themselves. Teach them some bloody independance for God's sake, otherwise they'll never function in the real world.

I speak as someone who was making the family cups of tea and coffee by aged 8, and washing and drying the dishes by aged 9, in order to help my mum out. She just decided one day to show me how to do it, and that was that. No choice in the matter at all, and I'm bloody glad. I'm a pretty good cook, I know how to iron, I've lived on my own and can handle a washing machine... There are too many blokes out there that haven't got a clue about how to look after themselves, and that's entirely down to their mothers (and, sometimes, wives).
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Thu 24 Apr 2008, 11:38, Reply)