A few years ago, my sister was talking to me about how someone said she was spoiling her daughter in a particular way. In response, she said that she thought that everyone “spoiled” their kids somehow, meaning that every family has its indulgences and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
There seemed a certain wisdom in this observation. Personally, I have a healthy terror of raising egomaniacs who feel the world owes them pretty much everything, and on some issues about which many parents seem flexible, I am quite firm. On the other hand, I probably do things with and for my children that I think lots of people might consider indulgent. I have my reasons for most of these choices, because I’m trying to think about my parenting choices as consciously as I can. Just as the parents whose behaviour with their children I consider immoderate may have done. Or maybe they haven’t.
This week at 4Mothers, we’re giving ourselves an opportunity to give some thought to the ways in which we make allowances for our own kids, whether we have reasons or not, for good or for bad, and maybe just because we can. We hope you’ll join in the discussion with indulgent tidbits (kidbits?) from your own lives.
4 Mothers 