Comments on: Things My Mother Never Had To Deal With

By: Janine

Janine — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 01:26:03 +0000

In reply to Me. I just think there is a lot of "new" things we have to deal with that didn't actually exist back when our parents were raising us.

By: Janine

Janine — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 01:25:26 +0000

In reply to Jo @Countrylifeexperiment. I think that is what has surprised me the most, the amount of pressure on them is far greater than what we had growing up.

By: Jo @Countrylifeexperiment

Jo @Countrylifeexperiment — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 01:05:46 +0000

I’m dreading the teenaged years. Being a highschool teacher, I know what they get up to, and the pressures on them.

By: Me

Me — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 01:38:57 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with you – it certainly is very different parenting now to what our parents went through and how they had to deal with us growing up.
Have the best day !
Me

By: Janine

Janine — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 07:36:38 +0000

In reply to Rachel @ The Kids Are All Right. I think you are right that the kids aren't all that different, it's just everything else that has changed! As I keep saying to the Hippie Child "two more years and you are out on your own" sometimes I worry she won't be prepared at all!!!! But it's true the grown-up world has infiltrated theirs much earlier than it did for us.

By: Janine

Janine — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 07:33:29 +0000

In reply to DeepKickGirl. You make me calmer just reading that, I agree that there are still the same emotional issues floating about, but I do think the explosion of social media and the whole internet situation has intensified many things - and added to parental responsibilities. I do think Gen X are the most over-protective, hyper parents that have ever existed though!! I also agree totally that keeping the lines of communication open is the key to getting through all this with some semblance of success.

By: DeepKickGirl

DeepKickGirl — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 06:27:04 +0000

I think the issues are the same it’s the methods that are different. Teenagers today, like in our day, just want to connect to their peers, separate themselves from their parents/family and find their place in life. I think the biggest problem is that information and news overload makes us parents overly paranoid and crazy. There are no more predators and deviants around now than there was in our day but we are more aware of them and thus fear them more than our parents did. Yes life is different and technology allows more and varied ways for kids to engage with each other but overall I think things are very much like they’ve always been. As always trying to keep the lines of communication open with our kids and generally doing our best to maintain a connection with them is the best we can do for them. Not buying into the achieve/pressure/panic/future dynamic is how I’m trying to work. Life will happen for them, like it did for us…

By: Rachel @ The Kids Are All Right

Rachel @ The Kids Are All Right — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 05:57:54 +0000

I think it’s totally different to what our parents had to deal with. But remarkably, I am not sure that kids are all that different. In some ways, they may be better equipped than we were to deal with the grown-up world because that world has infiltrated theirs sooner. I have my fingers crossed anyway that everything is going to turn out just fine, as long as we keep talking to them (and to other parents – boy, that helps).