I was flipping through the channels and happened to catch the newest reality show on Fox.....Nanny 911. The idea sounds interesting....a nanny helps parents deal with children who are having behavior problems. Since I am currently dealing with a child in the throws of terrible twos, I thought, "What a fantastic idea! Maybe I could get some tips for dealing with MY son."
I was shocked. What I didn't realize was that the adults on the show were not REAL parents. How could they be? Here are a "mom" and a "dad" who made no effort to raise their kids. The oldest was 9 and thought itw as completely okay to stand on the kitchen table, hit his siblings, hit his mother, etc. When the nanny started putting him in time out, he was allowed to jump around on the couch, fling pillows and cushions around, scream etc. And they had other children, including twin 2 year olds that were holy terrors. The parents allowed their children to hit them, fling food at the dinner table, fight, scream, have no responsibility for their actions and then smirked and sat back...."this nanny will never work".
I think it is pathetic when parents can allow their children to grow up so completely without manners or social responsibility. I'm not even talking about saying "Please" and "thank you" because there are many rude people in the world who have learned not to act like this. What do you think will happen when the 9 year old who gets away with everything turns 16? Do you think that he will suddenly decide to be responsible? or will he be a bully at school? Ignore responsibilities at school and one day, a job? Drink and drive at 16....why not? Nobody expected him to follow any rules, so why start later?
The mom said, "The boys are 2, they just don't understand....." Believe me. My two year old son understands that you don't pound on your mother and laugh. You don't scream and throw fits at the dinner table and have mom just laugh. Kids understand more than we give them credit for.
Any to top it off. The mother refused to participate and attempt to discipline her kids until.....(no surprise here) they destroyed her couch. And my question for her is....If you want to have a really expensive leather couch, why would you get one when you KNOW your kids are going to jump on it, throw the cushions around and yes, draw on it eventually? Why are you more concerned about your couch than raising children who are not going to be lazy and unresponsible at best and criminals at worse? She ignored all the behaviors until it affected her belongings, then she got angry and mean. I bet $100 that she would have done a lot more than time out if the cameras had not been rolling. I could see it, she was mad enough to beat on her own kid.
The upside of this entire show? I realize that while my son is adjusting to new situations and new feelings of independance, he is not a monster. He is not a "terrible two". He is a wonderful, happy, well-adjusted boy who sometimes acts out in frustration. And I am happy with that.
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