How to be a good parent.

I'm listening to Parenthood by proxy by Laura Schlessinger, a virtuous, Christian radio talk show host. She laments the fact that traditional homes with traditional values are no longer considered necessary to raise good, well-adjusted children.


It's considered acceptable for kids to be raised by divorced parents, step-parents, double income parents, uncles etc. This isn't the best way to raise children, she says. It leads to turmoil in their lives.


According to her, parents owe their kids time (and attention), clothes, shelter and food. That's it. Playstations and trips to Disneyland are nice, but not obligatory. Attention and time are the big challenges for parents. In non-traditional families the kids don't get enough attention and time.


She says nowadays we are more selfish. We're told by the media to improve ourselves and do what makes us happy. We're taught that we're number one, we deserve the best, we can do anything we want. In other words we're self-indulgent.


It causes parents to do wrong-headed things like have divorces, travel the world and leave their kids at home, pursue a career and neglect their kids, etc. Instead we should encourage the values of self-sacrifice.


When you have kids you agree to make sacrifices for your children. Your happiness no longer comes first. Theirs does. And this is a good thing and should be embraced and promoted by our culture.


My own 2 cents: I agree about the selfishness. We're taught that we deserve to be happy and to put ourselves number one. This is a problem. I disagree about her idea as "daycare as a last resort". I think (and hope because Jake's in daycare!) you can still raise a well-adjusted child who attends daycare. The studies show this is true.



But we have been noticing lately that daycare may not be the best option for Jake. The workers claim they know sign language but when Jake signs and asks for something they wave and say, "Hi Jake!" So I think he doesn't get the best development.



Also he catches every illness that goes around, and all the other parents send their sick kids to daycare.