I was raised by a Baby Boomer. Was there a parenting style of the 50's generation? After discussing this at length with girlfriends my age we decided the parenting philosophy was simple: Send the children outside and they'll come back hungry and tired.
This was very true being raised in a small rural community two hours from any large city. Perhaps children of my generation that grew up near a thriving metropolis had trips to the zoo, museums, or a baseball game. I did not. We did however for most of my childhood have trips to another rural community with a lake. We stayed at the cottage for a better part of the summer. Eating all our meals at the picnic table in our swimsuits. We swam, water skied, and hiked in the nearby woods.
None of us went to camp, or summer enrichment. We did not take swim lessons or lessons of any kind for that matter. No one played baseball or was on the swim team. By today's standards, we were lazy, and so God forbid - was our mother.
After calling several of my son's Kindergarten pals for a play date we finally met someone at the park. Everyone I called said how crazy the summer was getting with lessons, camps, and other activities. Nothings really that crazy at our house. So far the summer has been really fun and easy, but dare I say it - lazy!
Perhaps it's my upbringing? My lazy mother who didn't organize play dates, activities, camps, or field trips has left me with a legacy of laziness. She taught me that summer was meant to be a time to relax. For a child, summer is lounging by a lake, setting up a lemonade stand, riding bikes, playing in the woods, hanging out with neighbors, and maybe reading lots of books.
So we are lazy, and my children deprived of camps and lessons and craziness. I just haven't decided if my parenting style is old school or if I am simply a Renaissance mother. For now I will claim the latter.
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