Dr. Benjamin Spock, a much loved pediatrician, wrote Baby and Child Care, a book that has helped countless parents raise their children. I was very fortunate to hear him speak many years ago at U.C. San Francisco Medical School. He was also extremely kind to write a wonderful endorsement for my first book, Raising a Handicapped Child. Sometime ago I came across another book of his in a used bookstore. In re-reading parts of the book, I found some words of wisdom that are even more applicable today. He wrote about American Permissiveness stating that "When parents try too hard to be tolerant and patient, children miss the guidance they need. -----They are apt to provoke their parents with worse and worse behavior in order to force their parents to assume control_and to get the air cleared." I think Dr. Spock would be amazed at some of the parenting I see today. So many parents want to be their children's friends and are afraid to ever say "No". Children want and need boundaries. Then they know the rules and feel safe. When I was a small child, I always felt I was the parent and not my mother. Fortunately, my father set the rules and so I was O. K.
Dr. Spock also discussed how children are raised in other countries and how different parenting in some countries is so different from it is in America. I wonder what Dr. Spock would say if he were alive today. I wish more pediatricians and family doctors would teach parenting or hold parenting classes as I did when I was in pediatric practice. Our children are our future and they need to learn how to act and cope in this strange world we live in today.
Comments