Our Jellyfish media

A long time ago when Extreme and Occasional were babies, Eternal and I read the Barbara Coloroso book "Kids are worth it" A key takeaway was the three parenting types: A Brick Wall, A Jellyfish and The Oak Tree. I would like to focus on The Jellyfish (MEIB)

...But sometimes, despite our best intentions, we handle things in a way that may not have the desired outcome.

It seems there are many parents who let their children do what they want, buy them most every thing they ask for, and let them get by without any household responsibilities. The children may enjoy having parents that remind us a little of a jellyfish: parents who say no, but will give in with a little begging and pushing. These parents say, "don't do that", but do not give the child any consequences should he or she "do it" anyway. They have no firm boundaries or guidelines, causing the children to continue pushing the limits just to see what the "real" limit is.

This type of parenting may work without any serious consequences until the children become teenagers. As teens, the children often begin pushing limits in harmful ways, such as smoking, driving too fast, staying out past curfew, and having sex. If parents try to establish firmer control at this point by setting limits and consequences, the teen will likely become defiant, resulting in a stormy teen/parent relationship. The parents may wonder what they did wrong; after all, they have been good parents, giving their child everything.

No why I am referring to this on a political blog? This is why. The media enables this behaviour by these contemptible Conservatives. And just like a jellyfish parent, they get angry but then relent and let petulant Peter Van Loan and other Ministers ignore reasonable questions. A great example was Robert Fife during the last election campaign. He was pig biting made when the RCMP blocked access to Harper at a photo-op but soon forgot all about it and resumed cheerleading for Mr. Angry.

They have no one to blame but themselves. Regardless of the party, if a politician shows this kind of contempt for the public's right to know the answer to a reasonable direct question, rip him a new one and keep ripping till he does.

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