To think that our parents never parented like this and we all turned out ok?

[mosschops30]

Honestly every day i log onto MN and there is always some variation of the following:

Ds doesnt like school, should i keep him home its making him anxious
MIL fed dd fish fingers and i am furious
Dh said the house wasnt clean is he emotionally abusing me
I think my ds should fo half days because hes tired
Can rides be banned from supermarkets, im thinking of a petition
Im disgusted that ds was playing with a toy gun at friends party

Yada yada yada la la la
Really? Can you imagine any of our parents doing this, i couldnt even get a day off with stomach ache, let alone feeling tired, a vesta curry or crispy pancakes was considered the height of sophistication, we watched Nightmare on Elm Street at age 9, and apart from the knifed glove i have in the airing cupboard it didnt do me sny harm, parents wouldnt question the school on hours or teaching skills.

Honestly it just makes me i think people have too much time

I can only wonder how brilliant and healthy I would have been had I been breast-fed.

Much stupid fussing on these boards and I don't like "parent" as a verb; but there are some things which have shifted for the better.

1. Fewer people hit their children (I was smacked and it did affect me)
2. We take more interest in our children as individual personalities, rather than seeing them as a homogenous group to be kept in line

Hilarious Whatme!!

"Oh yes Prunella, I wanted to ask you what your opinion is on the new childhood management scheme they've been talking about at the NCT. Now I wasn't impressed with their pre-birth life support classes, far too little emphasis on musical cortex expansion for the foetus, but this seems better, there's even a section on evacuation co-completion! What do you think?"

Agamemnon will surely end up in state school

Agamemnon - oh lord, now that is the ticket.

I predict a name changing riot :o

I think if this was my username, I would attract the wrong person.

Oh I think it was far easier to be considered an ok parent in the past. None of the angst and second guessing and comparing to everyone else that goes on today.

My parents were also gloriously '1970's hands off'. I know they loved me and still do, but they didn't get tied up in knots trying to prove it. I do think I was left to my own devices perhaps a tad too often ie most of the summer holidays while they went off to work and most days for a couple of hours after school. That I wouldn't do, but then again lots of people I know had the same deal so there was nothing odd about it.

I was also an only child. Did it occur to them that I might be bothered about that? Nope. And yet the worry and doubt I read on here about siblings or the lack of totally bemuses me.

People get so analytical about being parents now. Just do your best and saying no to a child doesn't necessarily mean they're deprived. It might even be doing them a favour in the long run.

Yes, but every YummyMummy would envy you like mad!

I am also looking forward to the next furious debate on MN about the choice of lactation delivery methodology for the nutrition reception device, and the optimum fluid delivery duration, and whether the primary lactation delivery system can be supplemented by the auxiliary system.

My information station (lame) hurts and it's your fault whatme.

Fewer people hit their children

Have you not seen the smacking thread? Plenty on MN use it and justify it against all arguments.

exotic my ds is Little Man Tate. He's not sure what to do with a bat and ball!

Proffessional Mummies probably do exist in certain pockets of the country.And may they stay there!

I still don't think that some of the things our parents did in the 70's and 80's were so great though.
And actually, people did read parenting books then. Miriam Stoppard was big in the 80's and Dr Spock was 60's, I think. People debated formula versus breast in the 60's and 70's and the smacking debate was going on then too.
Our parents having us in the 70's and 80's mostly wanted to bring us up very differently to the way they were brought up.I do think they gave it some thought, just like we do. If they say they didn't, well, they probably don't remember.
My mum told me about agonizing over my older brother not sleeping as a baby and letting him cry it out, and my Nan (they were living with my Nan and Granpa) saying it was cruel.

I think the differences now are down to a combination of factors:

The Information Age: you can find out about things now that you just couldnt then.
If you have PND, or trouble feeding etc you can log on here and talk about it.
Back then you would have had to hope you had a friend who could help, and if not, then tough luck.

Traffic: you can't underestimate this.
In the 80's we played out and a car would come slowly trundling down our st once every 45 minutes.
Now it would be more like every 3 minutes.
This has a massive effect on how much kids play out, and how worried we as parents get about it.
People drive like maniacs now.
I want to start some kind of playing out amnesty in my street.
Another local area has one, where they narrowed the roads and blocked some of them off so that the kids, who dont have gardens (terrace houses with just a yard) can play in the street.
I would love to try and do this where I live, but my neighbours here are a bit posher so might not be into it!
(sorry, veered off topic there!)

@ whatmeworry

pictish my daily 'activity' was going to the shop to buy fags for my mum but your mum beats mine! That was so funny

Hehehe

My mum never bought her own fags. That was my job!

Perhaps but arent we all living a bit longer now and our children are being cured and protected from things that would have killed them a few years ago?

I am all for challenging things you dont believe in with evidence based approach.

Not sure we are softer or just more aware of danger and have a need to attempt to control it.

Personally prefer to live in a society where we can challenge ask questions and seek to improve - thats progress.