Comments on: When Parents Invade Childhood (A Lesson in Distrust)

By: Joseph Novak

Joseph Novak — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 15:50:39 +0000

In reply to Dazed in Galway. More of a sign of the times. Hopefully your little one had some fun; and was told he did ok.

By: Pam Holbrook

Pam Holbrook — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 10:28:22 +0000

In reply to Dazed in Galway. Does it speak to parents' opinion of their toddlers still being babies? (they are not) Were they confused?....funny, this reminds me of my grandson's T-ball games. Yep, they teach them early to be more/get more. So sad.

By: Looli

Looli — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 02:21:50 +0000

In reply to Dazed in Galway.

When I was in kindergarten, there was one child whose parents always waited for them at the bus stop, while all the other kids walked themselves home. I remember thinking “those parents are too attached.”

One day as the bus pulled to the stop, every parent except mine was waiting at the bus stop. I felt sad that my parent wasn’t there.

From this experience, I would say that a child might have uncomfortable feelings if their parent doesn’t participate the way other parents do.

By: sky

sky — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 20:50:04 +0000

Perhaps this is a scenario where parents could be teaching older or more capable children to help and support younger children . . . .. .when we were kids, our egg hunts (for hard boiled chicken eggs . . . .not candy) involved roughly 27 “kids” ranging in age from 12 months to 19 years old, and there was always teamwork, support and sharing . . . . adults only interveed if someone got greedy which almost never happened . . . . the scenario described here seems to be an issue with the parents and their lack of trust in the children’s ability (thir own and others) to share and support one another . .. . . . also perhaps i don’t know what i think i know . . . .

By: Maggie

Maggie — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 12:46:30 +0000

In reply to Caravelle. When we did small family egg hunts, each child had a designated color to find, and we hid the colors according to the individual child's skill level. The big kids knew that the yellow eggs just laying on the ground were for the toddlers and left them alone. The green ones for the pre-teens were up high, or mostly covered.

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 09:09:56 +0000

So bizarre no parents looked around and thought to help kids with no eggs! I tell my daughter before these things, if you see anyone without an egg, you should give them one. I also follow with my kids (which is okay in the hunt I go to) and pick up eggs and throw them in front of kids who may not have one for them to find. My twins are two, this year the egg hunt was about finding one or two and opening and closing the egg they did find. I didn’t push them further.

By: Ayesha

Ayesha — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 06:35:17 +0000

In reply to Steph. At our childcare centre we hid a variety of eggs , chicks, and bunnies . Each child had a picture of the eggs etc they had to find and put in their basket. They took the filled basket back to show their teacher then went back to help another child find theirs. No rush, no snatching, no taunting and everyone got enough

By: NM

NM — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 05:52:24 +0000

In reply to Ang. Don’t worry, you’re not alone! I’m in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney with a 14 month old, following the RIE parenting approach! Would love to join your play group if there is room for others!

By: Caravelle

Caravelle — Sat, 10 Apr 2021 10:42:12 +0000

Honestly maybe they should have “special parent-only eggs” that are hidden at an adult level (or even not), so the parents get their looking-for-eggs fix and are distracted a bit from managing their children…

(Come to think of it I just had a nice easter-egg hunt with my son where he was alone so it’s easier to manage but I still had issues with my brother pointing out eggs and pushing him in ways I found excessive. I’ve been brainstorming how to manage next year, when the cousins will be there and my other brothers, and this could be a fun idea…)

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 04:45:47 +0000

We’ve just been to our 1st ever Easter Egg hunt this morning. My daughter is 21 months old and all kids were between 19 and 23 months old. I’m glad to say all the parents pretty much stood back and let the kids discover the eggs! We just took photos. And helped them get the foil wrappers off the chocolate because they all tried to eat the wrappers! To be honest, we were all pretty happy for the kids to find only a few eggs each as they don’t have chocolate often! I was surprised at how quickly the kids caught on to it-realising that there was chocolate on offer! They’re smart little things! Fingers crosses that the parents still take a relaxed approach in another year!