Parenting with Love, Logic, and Screaming

Voices from the Blogosphere – Blogger Spotlight

Welcome to Blogger Spotlight, where we showcase the voices of Mamapedia community moms through their authentic and wonderfully diverse blog posts. Sometimes humorous, sometimes informative, sometimes bittersweet—always engaging. Enjoy!

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I’ve spent so much time reading and trying to apply the knowledge learned from self-help books that it’s really quite shocking that I’m not a better person than I am.

Frankly, given the volumes of books I have gone through over the years you’d think I’d be at least competitive for sainthood, Zen Master, or Sequoia Earth Mother — and that’s just the spiritual stuff I’ve read. If I didn’t mention your faith community’s enlightened soul status, feel free to pretend like I did. It’s a blog post, space is limited, I’m sure you understand.

Selections from my bookshelves include such subject matter as how to be a better person, leader, writer, speaker and slow-cooker dinner-maker just to name a few. Other titles educate me on how to think like the competition, think like my horse, think win-win, and one that advises me to don’t make others think too much. Well-intentioned titles such as Clicker Training for Cats—worked for my friends. That one might have worked for me had I actually read it. Lest you think I’m a self-help poseur, no, I haven’t read all of my want-to-be-better books cover-to-cover. Full disclosure—I admit it, I’ve done selective chapter readings in the past. But in my defense, that was before I skimmed over How to Better Manage Your Self-Help Book Backlog.

Parenting is a topic area full of advice. Since I have two teenagers and a Can-Do attitude, I’ve read my share of words meant to help me navigate through each developmental phase with my offspring. Take for example, the pre-mommy read on Lamaze and a wonderful natural childbirth. Lies and more lies I tell you. Clearly the author of that one was not short-waisted with narrow hip bones.

But it’s the Parenting Teens With Love & Logic book that I personally feel could use some serious revision. No offense to the authors Dr. Foster Cline and Jim Fay who I’m sure are brilliant parents and successful consultants and authors. Funny the techniques in their books were useful to me for my kids’ early childhood years. But once they hit the full-on teen years? Not happening. I’m not sure where the authors found the teens who were surly until transformed with love and logic into super. But they in no way are representative of the 14 year-old that must be dressed and ready for school by 6:15AM who sleeps in my house.

I think Cline and Fay should take some parenting clues from nature like I do. There is a reason why Momma Bear has a fierce growl. It’s to get her cubs’ furry butts out of the den and ready to take on the world. Thus, I love my 14 year-old and find it logical that after 45 minutes and she’s still lying in bed that my inner drill sergeant emerges. Hence, my suggested title revision of Love, Logic and Screaming.

I should note for all you novices out there that what I’m referring to is controlled screaming, i.e. “GET UP NOW!” as opposed to the hormonal rage rampage that meanders and really isn’t as effective. Trust me.

You know, I may not be as enlightened as I’d like but I am pretty well read—despite that unfortunate skimming habit I had to overcome. I think I’ll try my hand at writing a self-help series for parents with teens.

Here are some future titles: Mama Grizzly and You: The Bear Necessities of Parenting; GET UP NOW! and Other Morning Motivations and last but not least, one for families in that challenging pre-college to college phase, Tuition Costs How Much? Lamaze Breathing Techniques for Parents of 18-22 Year-Olds.

Award-winning website editor, magazine editor, journalist and mom to two teen daughters and a household of four-legged family members, Regina Galvin considers parenting her most important assignment. She blogs at Regina-Online.com