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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Are Experts Winging It?

I know there are parenting books that cover every subject from A-Z. There is a whole book called "The Strong-Willed Child", and believe me I consider buying it every single time I am buying books online. There are though some situations that I believe would stump even the most seasoned of parenting "experts".

For example, on Monday night LaLa used air quotes when talking to my husband. She wasn't being overly rude or disrespectful, but she did use them in context. It has me a bit concerned. You know this is going to bite me in the rear end one day when she is in her teenaged years and she whips out the air quotes. Also, people who air quote annoy me. On the other hand I am so proud that she is starting to get the concept of sarcasm. You would not believe the number of times when I have said something and she has taken me literally and then I have had to explain the real meaning of what I was trying to say. On the other hand I don't want her to over use sarcasm. It is the lowest form of wit. What would Dr. Spock think about all this?

Another example would be that KiKi has taken to being quite the assertive and independent child in social situations, but is timid in an educational setting. It is puzzling. Her bus driver jokes that I am going to have my hands full because she is so bossy, but her teacher has said that he has a hard time getting her to speak at circle time. What would the experts tell me to do about this?

These kind of things make me wonder if a parenting book would actually do me any good. I mean, I have the basics down. I discipline the girls fairly well. They generally are well behaved. I am just wondering if parenting "experts" had the tools to cope with off the wall problems like this when they were raising their own children or if they just were winging it like me.