Today I watched the sunrise show, which I haven’t done for an incredibly long time, and I was quickly reminded why. This unbearable woman came on and started talking about her new book, The Gentle Parent. Sounds like she just doesn’t hit her kids, but sadly, that wasn’t all. She’s got all these stupid little systems worked out where the kids get all their naughty moments and good deeds recorded, and at the end of the week their pocket money is calculated from that. Oh, and it just went ON, and ON, and “oh, and little Tera is learning ancient Javanese, and little Jerome has been moved up six grades and is learning all about commercial solar in Sydney at the ripe young age of fourteen!” Look, if your child revolutionises the field of solar energy and saves mankind, I might find your prattling a little more bearable, because that’s pretty much the bar you set for him. I mean, little Samantha or whatever has to be the biggest super genius, and also perfect at home because of the conditioning of the naughty/nice pocket money chart, but…wow, the nerve of some people, telling other parents how to do their job when they haven’t met every child in the world.
No one gets to be that super parent. No one. Also, I’ve done research into all the solar commercial companies that currently exist in Sydney, and what a surprise, they’re all led by qualified adults. Little Jim doesn’t come up anywhere. As far as I know there are no news stories on young people running industrial solar system empires. Funny how that works, or…does not work. It’s like these book-writing, TV-appearing parents just have to talk up their kids to the moon and back, because if you appear on television with anything other than the elusive super-genius, no one will buy your book. I suppose there’s truth to that. What a sad celebrity culture we live in. At the very least, I want to shield my kids from some of that.
-Jill