The
other night my daughter was politely eating dinner at the table. Actually
eating which is a joy and surprise. We were discussing her love of science. I
was glowing. There were no screens present, no tantrums, no interruptions. And
then she said: "I love science. Just like Abraham Lincoln." "Huh?" I thought. She continued: "He was great
scientist." Moment over. You can’t laugh. You can’t shame. None of these
reactions are allowed in the new work of parenting, just silent mocking.
All of these issues are first world problems. Out parents
easily told us about the starving children in China. We believed them. Shamed
by the notion someone had less, we did our parents bidding. But now there’s the Internet. You must prove your work. Parenting and
life in general has become on exhausting calculus problem.
I believe Barack Obama isn’t really human. I troll I find
evidence of this wrong fact, I post it or worse, mass email it to “friends” and bam, I’m validated.
If I tell my daughter to eat her food because there are
starving kids in China. She wants proof. What do they look like? If you google starving Chinese kids you riskThey don’t
look starving. Or worse, OMG why did you show that to me I can’t get that image
out of my head!
Parenting, like religion only works if fear works. If your
child believes in the hell you may inflict be it corporal or casual, the system
works. Religion without Hell is a guideline. Some people work well with
guidelines, others don’t.
That's why silent mocking works so well. You must be prepared to truly follow through on threats, those threats are like clean tissues you have somewhere in your purse that you had no clue were there but find just in time right after your kid REALLY sneezes.
