“Having kids—the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings—is the biggest job anyone can embark on.” – Maria Shriver
Mother's Day is a good time to celebrate and reflect on the different styles of raising kids. Kat and I had a great discussion on philosophies on parenting. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Kat has a much more analytical style whereas I tend to be more intuitive, basically ignoring facts and statistics that are readily (see resources below).
Big shoutout to our moms for raising such amazingly smart, beautiful and most importantly kick-ass moms ourselves. We look up to you and love you! -xoxo Lisa & Kat
Additional Resources Courtesy of Kat:
RETHINKING “STRANGER DANGER”
Most importantly, “stranger danger” ignores the fact that most children are abducted by someone they know.
Forget 'stranger danger': 'Tricky people' concept helps kids spot sketchy adults “Most of the time, kids are learning ‘stranger danger,’ which is cute and it rhymes, but isn’t really effective,” Fitzgerald told TODAY Parents. “'Tricky people’ is certainly more effective because most strangers are not dangerous…kids think a stranger is going to be somebody who is kind of scary looking or scary sounding, but statistically, if someone wants to harm a child they are not going to appear scary, they’re going to be charming, have an enticing offer, and seem friendly.”
THE PROBLEM WITH “STRANGER DANGER” Statistically speaking most abuse, and all sorts of other bad things that happen to children comes from some one either in the family or very close to the family.
TIPS FOR HELPING YOUR CHILD THRIVE AT FAMILY GATHERINGS By allowing your children to set their own boundaries you are teaching them that they are the boss of their own bodies. That’s a lesson that you’ll want them to have learned before they hit their teenage years.
National Child Kidnapping Facts99.8% of the children who go missing do come home.
Nearly 90% of missing children have simply misunderstood directions or miscommunicated their plans, are lost, or have run away.
9% are kidnapped by a family member in a custody dispute.
3% are abducted by non-family members, usually during the commission of a crime such as robbery or sexual assault. The kidnapper is often someone the child knows.
Only about 100 children (a fraction of 1%) are kidnapped each year in the stereotypical stranger abductions you hear about in the news.
About half of these 100 children come home.
What to Teach Kids About Strangers
If children need help--whether they’re lost, being threatened by a bully, or being followed by a stranger--the safest thing for them to do in many cases is to ask a stranger for help. You can make this easier for them by showing them which strangers are okay to trust.