More Celebs Following Progressive Parenting Principles

More and more celebs are following progressive or attachment parenting principles. “Gossip Girl” star Kelly Rutherford and “Big Bang Theory” actress Mayim Bialik both made the headlines recently when they revealed publicly that they breastfed their toddlers; Rutherford even more so because she revealed her stance on the subject back in 2008. Bialik, who, in addition to being an actress and mother, is a neuroscientist, did extensive research on the subject and wrote a book about it: “Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way.”

“Brangelina” are allegedly ‘unschoolers’ and, along with Kevin Kline,  Kylie Bax and a host of others, they have openly admitted to co-sleeping with their kids for as long as they want. 

Angelina Jolie told Esquire magazine:  “Rightnow, Pax is sleeping in our bed. It’s kind of nice, him immediately knowing and feeling comfortable with us. Mad slept with me until Brad and I got together. They’re fun to sleep with. We have family sleep on Sundays. Everybody sleeps together.”

New Zealand model Kylie Bax told Woman’s Day magazine, after the birth of her second child, Dione Nefeli, “We have four people in the bed now!” (Her other child is daughter, Lito, 3.)

Kevin Kline, his wife Phoebe Cates, and their children, Owen, 16, and Greta, 13, still share a bed.  He told OK! Magazine,  “There is a theory that a child has to teach itself to go to sleep, and if every time it cries, you whisk them out of their bed — the jury is still out on that. But our kids still sleep in our bed”.

There are also a wealth of celebs caught on camera ‘wearing’ their babies, such as Julia Roberts and Naomi Watts,making the practice more acceptable.

The media, however, still depict extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping as “extreme” or “humorous”.  I loved the recent comedy Grown-Ups, but was pretty ticked off by the supposed joke about the older-than-average child still being breastfed by their mother as being crazy and unstable.  As a mother who tandem feeds a 3.5 year-old and a 2-year-old I don’t find it crazy, but totally natural and logical.  Hopefully, with more celebs following this parenting style the media might start portraying mothers following this style in a more positive light and not as a source of ridicule.

Smacking Hurts

I saw a mother smacking her 2 year old on the bottom when he ran near the road yesterday.  It made me wince then it made me sad.  Where is the sense in hurting a child to stop them hurting themselves?  There is always another way to keep them safe.  Although smacking has been proven to be an ineffective form of discipline, many of us still believe smacking, or spanking, is a necessary evil. Why, in our modern world full of human rights, is it deemed unacceptable to do to an adult, but not a child? A 200lb man can smack a small child as often as they like as long as it is their own!

You don’t need to be a psychologist to conclude that hitting hurts a child. It hurts a child physically. It hurts a child emotionally. It hurts a child psychologically. It hurts the mother-child relationship.  Many mothers claim they do it out of love but no adult would want their spouse to hit them because they loved them. Hitting doesn’t feel like love, it feels like control and power. It teaches our children that it is ok for a bigger person to hurt a smaller person to get them to do what they want. Is that really what you want to teach your child?