Reply to When a friend or family member is making a huge parenting mistake...

Forum Index » Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers

Reply to "When a friend or family member is making a huge parenting mistake..."

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, please tell us what this parenting mistake is so we don't have to debate in-home care vs. preschools/daycares anymore :)[/quote]

AGREE!!!

An it's really hard to advise with no details - for me so much depends on how close I am to the parent and what the concern is.

Those I'm closest to, my sister and my BF, I could say anything.  As for anyone else, my default response is to mind my own business.  Unsolicited advice (parenting or otherwise) is very rarely appreciated or followed.

I regularly bite my tongue with family and friends on so many issues.  But I would speak up (or have) to some to share information, experience or a POV about something that is possibly dangerous and might really be out of actual ignorance (i.e. crib bumbers, old cribs, hanging cords, recalled stuff) BUT I wouldn't if I knew it was their actual choice in spite of the obvious risk (i.e.. smoking in their own house, holding baby in car).

This is really a case by case judgment for me - I'll mention one where I decided I had too.

This is the short version:  Close friend/neighbor tells me that her 12 yo DS told her that this man who was staying at their house had exposed himself to him (DS).  She thought DS was making it up.  The man was basically a stranger and had been there a couple of months already and they were doing this a favor for someone in their community to be nice and help someone in need.  I told her in no uncertain terms that they had to listen to their son and have this man leave ASAP and that I would be happy to have DS stay with us for the night.  She said no, I'm sure he is making it up, he is just sick of having him here.  I said you can't risk it and even if he is making it up that in of itself is really bad and you have to put your son's needs first.  An unpleasant verbal exchange ensued and that was the end of a 14 year friendship.

I don't regret saying something but I do regret the nasty argument that followed.

Oh and the man remained for a number of months, and according to my source she never asked the man about the incident and 10 year later her DS still says it happened but that the man never did it again or anything else.

So, OP,  I would say proceed with caution...[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics