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AIBU?

How annoying is this man

20 replies

kitchendevil · 21/10/2008 14:02

Dear readers, please read this article. Idle bloody parenting. Never come across such a smug know-it-all...

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main.jhtml?xml=/education/2008/02/16/faidle11 6.xml&page=1

OP posts:

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Rhubarb · 21/10/2008 14:03

I'd rather keep my blood pressure down thanks.

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nickytwoooohtimes · 21/10/2008 14:04

6.xml&page=1 voila!
Am off to read it now.

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nickytwoooohtimes · 21/10/2008 14:04

Bugger!

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nellynaemates · 21/10/2008 14:11

Can you post link again kitchendevil??

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nellynaemates · 21/10/2008 14:12

Never mind, think it's the telegraph that's having problems

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TeenyTinyTorya · 21/10/2008 14:15

Why is that annoying? I do most of the things on that list apart from living in a field lol - live in a small house, buy most things from charity shops, don't go on foreign holidays, and don't use my heating. I do have to keep the telly though - I never had one at home when I was a kid, so I'm addicted to it now!

It's maybe unrealistic for some people, but I don't see why it's annoying or smug.

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Mumi · 21/10/2008 14:36

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main.jhtml?xml=/education/2008/02/16/faidle116.xml&page=1

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deanychip · 21/10/2008 14:51

i agree with what he says tbh.
I do think that this digital age is damaging.
We played in the garden digging in the mud with a spoon for hours as kids, had no foreign holidays and made our own amusement.
I looked after my 3 siblings from a very young age.

i have pangs of guilt if my child is not kept amused, or if we have a whole weekend in the house or garden but why should i feel guilty? The kids are with us, as a family in our lovely home safe and secure without spending shed loads of money.
Why should i be at their beck and call? What is wrong with getting them to sort thier own breakfast?

I have pledged to NOT purchase anything digital for my child until he is old enough to appreciate and NEED it.
Im afraid that my opinion is that these nintendo thingies are crippling to social development in young children. From my own experience of my nephew who has had one since bieng 4 is that he grunts to us when we walk in, barely lifting his head from it after bieng "such a good boy, nice and quiet all day long"
We have crocodiles swimming round our living room floor, so we need our settee cushions to avoid them! Its imaginastion and fun!

Im not saying that it is wrong for people, not at all, i am saying that its not right for my family.

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deanychip · 21/10/2008 14:56

HERE HERE "happy mess is better than miserable tidiness" what a fantastic saying!
Im going to adopt that as my mantra from now on

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childrenofthecornsilk · 21/10/2008 15:00

I agree with him.

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Kathyis6incheshigh · 21/10/2008 15:05

Not annoying at all (except perhaps a tiny bit for the photos with large field and pony in background - all this is easier to achieve if you live in the country than the city, I think).

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UnquietDad · 21/10/2008 15:07

He actually makes some good points if you read the article rather than just the headline.

Although... he is the editor of "The Idler", isn't he? Forgive me if I'm wrong, but doesn't he live off a trust fund? It's rather easier to do some of the points in his list in that situation. I don't imagine "V" has to work at all. And I bet they have a cleaner.

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needmorecoffee · 21/10/2008 15:11

how is this news? Obviously I don't live in the country or have horses as can't afford either but we never did 'activities' or scheduled stuff.
The older 3 played together and did their own thing for years. Made their own food too (I am an idle mother )
And he's forgetting those of us who can't afford ballet and music and groups have always let the kids play and do their own thing.

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Blu · 21/10/2008 15:14

LOL - yes, I was going to point out that his children appear to have a pony to occupy them.

I am of a mindset about many of his points, but think he makes others from an ivory-deckchair: organised sports and lively play arrangements are often the only practical way to get your child out and about semi-independently if you live in a small flat in the middle of a city or inner-city.

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SheherazadetheGoat · 21/10/2008 15:17

i think i agree but i got bored reading after the first paragraph. what a dullard.

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Blu · 21/10/2008 15:18

And i'm not sure how a pony is to be obtained whilst the adults do as little work as possible and none when the children are small - as per his manifesto.

We couldn't even afford his recommended local ales if we abided by that bit!

It's possible that some f this article is tongue in cheek, you know!

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Blu · 21/10/2008 15:20

Yes, sherea...he's rather self-conscious and fey, isn't he? Overgrown teenage buffoon.

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needmorecoffee · 21/10/2008 15:26

someone should tell him its hardly 'OMG newsflash' that kids don't need 500 activities and can entertain themselves just fine. In the city too.

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Blu · 21/10/2008 15:35

mmmmm- but research has shown that unsupervised children out on the streets, with no activities, in between school finishing and parents getting home at 6 is the main opportunity for petty crime and vandalism. Hence many inner-city schools - like the new Evelyn Grace academ in Brixton running a school day until 5.30 - with the last couple of hours being 'activities'.

But I don't think that he is talking about 'those' children. I think he is talking about over-stimulated, pver-structure, over-ferried-about children of 'people like him'.