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By Susan, February 2, 2010

I have happily and haphazardly been spreading parenting propaganda for 16 years. I’ve been doing this not as a writer, but as a parent. I’ve spent years glibly citing studies which suit my agenda.
I recently read this article about a study (published in the journal Sleep) titled, “Earlier Parental Set Bedtimes as a Protective Factor Against Depression and Suicidal Ideation.”
Naturally, I told my teenager about the study, which focused on adolescents. As someone who likes to stay up late on weekends, I thought he’d argue. He simply said, “Most of these studies you tell me about are obvious.”
True, I thought. Today I saw a press release about a study titled: “Teens who drink with parents may still develop alcohol problems.” That makes sense.
I still cite such “science” when it suits me, though. At age 3, they’d generally believe me when I’d say, “You’ll poke your eye out” or “That will give you a case of diarrhea you’ll never forget.” The older my kids get, the more reinforcements I have to bring in. They want to “pshaw” my explanations of the values of turning in early, eating breakfast, wearing jackets, etc. Sometimes they even argue against my sources, my statistics and my “facts.”
We all know many study results can be manipulated, misinterpreted, etc., so I’ve always taught my kids to be skeptical and not automatically believe everything they hear or read. As they age, they’ve begun to ask me to identify my sources. I’m happy they do it. I suppose I just assumed I’d be the exception. Share this Post

     

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By Susan, November 17, 2009

“Unfriend” is the New Oxford American Dictionary’s word of the year. It’s funny because my son and I had an “unfriending” discussion this morning, even before I saw the article. We were discussing his dad’s recent joining of Facebook. His dad had yet to “friend” him, and he thought maybe it was out of respect to his teenage sensitivities. He then asked why I have to be his Facebook “friend” when I insist on also having his password. It’s double the injustice.

I can tell he has a deep desire to “unfriend” me. Some of his friends have “friended” me on Facebook, making my presence there all the more mortifying. (They made the request…I don’t request to “friend” teenage boys unless they are my sons. Actually, then it is more of a demand.)

During our discussion about my embarrassing behavior, he also complained that I had mentioned him in a previous blog post. I have been ordered to stop talking about him online. Perhaps I do “overshare” (which happens to be what the Webster’s New World Dictionary selected as 2008’s word of the year). Maybe I should let him “unfriend” me. Then he won’t see everything I’ve been saying about him.
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