Paradigm Shift!

Just finished a wonderful read that has revolutionized our parenting style at casa KidLit: The Self-Esteem Trap, by Polly Young-Eisendrath. The basic premise is that generations X, Y, and millenials have all grown up under the GenMe umbrella (thanks to I'm Okay, You're Okay) and we're now reaping the awful rewards of the cult of the "special" child. All children are special, awesome, wonderful, amazing, and bound to change the world... right? So the flip side is that the children believe they are the center of the world, but at the same time they think they must be defective any time they aren't brilliant at something, and that's the self-esteem trap.

If I could buy every parent I know a copy--and, for that matter, all the other parents too-- I would! Even in a week it has changed things for the better around here. But, as I can't, I will offer you a tidbit I would call "Nice Try" which occurred as we watched the moon go down behind the airport runway from our hotel window in the early-ish morning:
Me: You just watched the earth turning.
Daughter: That was amazing.
Son: It was. And we could do that sort of thing all the time if we home schooled.

Clearly, I'm in a Psych Experiment

Daughter, from the other room: uuuurrrrrhhhhhhha?

Me: I can't hear you!

Daughter, from the other room: UuuurrrrrhhhhhhhA!

Me: I still can't hear you. There are three appliances running in here. If you want to talk to me, come here to do it!

[Five minutes later... high pitched, continuous hum from the other room.]

Me: Is that you making that noise?

Daughter. Oh. So you CAN hear me.