Baby Frankensteins !

I read a lot of articles about parenting. Summaries of the results of research studies ( no one wants to read a whole research study or,........... no one can read a research study without falling asleep), trends reported by leading therapists, problems in the school systems, and Moms requesting help in parenting forums. I plan to discuss them - but I am not going to quote all the resources and footnote the info. Just trust me I'm not making this stuff up. There's no need to - real life is full of kid and parent problems. AND a lot of the solutions are just plain-COMMON SENSE !!!

Shrinks are reporting a new type of childhood behavior problem they are calling "Frankenkinders" Kinder- age 4-5 , combined with Franken as in Frankenstein / monster.
Little monsters or BRATS as I like to call them - an old fashioned term I guess. The latest new contributing factor causing this brat 00ps,...............I mean frankenkinder behavior is overloading young children with technology toys and decreasing the amount of actual human contact they experience. Have you seen any? In restaurants they have gameboys and dvd players entertaining them so Mom and Dad can ignore them and have a drink and chat.

Have you seen the commercial ( I cringe every time) where the two boys are in the new minivan watching a movie and playing hand held video games. The father arrives and sticks his head in and delightfully informs them that "the tree house is finished !!" The two boys ask if it has a dvd player or video game system and of course he sayes "No" and they shut the van door in his face and say "NO thanks we'll stay in here"
.......................I hate it !!

So SAD to chose electronics over a "tree house" full of make believe play and fresh air ! I lived in trees growing up and so did my kids. It was our own little world/ fort - we loved it.

Parents are using the electronic entertainment to babysit the kids and the kids are becoming dependant on it and demanding more and more of it. A sad ( my favorite word today) word used to describe these kids is "emotionally neglected' because of the huge decrease in interaction between them and their parents. "EMOTIONALLY NEGLECTED" ---THIS IS HORRIBLE. This is a term often used when a child is abandoned and has no parent --now it's happening in homes where the parents are PRESENT !

Technology is FANTASTIC don't get me wrong - but it has to be a small part of you life - not the majority of your life. Leave the electronic games at home - there are tons of games to play while waiting for the waitress to bring the food ie ; hangman (on the back of the paper place mat ), drawing and coloring (bring supplies with you), "I spy something red( blue, black, etc............)can you guess what it is?", sneaking salt into Dads tea, give the toddler a lemon to suck on ( might want to bring the video camera) , whose paper airplane (made from place mats) can travel the furthest, how many trips to the bathroom before Mom looses her cool -and my sons FAVORITE - Guess how many pieces of gum are stuck under the table? --------------- you get the idea -Have fun and make family memories. Tell me what games do you play while waitng for the food?