It’s Not Really Anybody Else’s Business How You Choose To Parent Your Child
I was scrolling Facebook when one of my friends posted about how she told her 4 year old he wasn’t going to have a birthday party if he didn’t clean up his room. She’d told him that three hours ago, and they were at a stalemate.
Some of her friends responded with a funny gif of a messy room or a kid with his arms crossed. Some offered helpful advice (one mom suggested she pick up one you for every toy he picked up, I gave her my tip about how I trick kids into cleaning up).
And then there were the jerks.
The ones that couldn’t believe she wouldn’t let her kid have his party. (She hadn’t said that. She was just venting on Facebook about her situation.)
The ones that shamed her for not just giving in immediately. Like they were suddenly very concerned that this kid was going to miss out on punch presents and cake.
The ones that patted her on the back for not letting her kid have a party. You gotta show that kid you mean business. No consequence left unconsequenced!
The ones that told her not only to skip the party, but to whoop that kid and show him who the boss is.
These people I will never understand. The people who tell you to spank your child. Like, you can do whatever and parent however you want to, but please don’t tell me to spank my kid. Okay? That’s just… weird.
But the truth is, in the age of social media and now that we share our lives with everyone on the internet, any time we get too real, we are opening ourselves up to judgment.
It’s rough, because you WANT to talk about your life on the internet. You want to chat. But, when you talk about yourself on Facebook or whatever, you aren’t just talking on the phone to your bestie, you are talking to EVERYONE on your friend’s list.
It’s hard to remember that, but you know what is even harder to remember– that they are still YOUR kids and you get to decide how to parent them. As long as everyone is safe and cared for, then it’s totally unequivocally up to you.
So, next time you post about something on Facebook, and people chime in with crazy ideas, take it with a grain of salt, or better yet, don’t take it all.
Want to know about the time my kid caught us doing the deed? It’s pretty funny, and you can read it here.