Last night my hubby and I watched Supernanny. Yes, we do watch a little of TV and I actually really like the show Supernanny….I think Jo Frost (aka the nanny) has some awesome ideas about parenting peacefully. Of course now I risk the lambasting I got last time I mentioned a TV show…when I got a seething email from a reader who said she couldn’t read the blog of a loathsome TV watcher.
So….I was quite upset by the show last night. The parents on the show were predictably clueless as is normal for the show but these parents we cruel too. I was shocked when the father screamed at his two year old and hit him in the head with a fork. I was irked when the mother let her five year old leave the home unattended without even bothering to check to see where he went. I was saddened to see the boys play video games that were marked M for Mature and which made recreation of murder and crime. I was about ready to strangle that mom though when she decided to make her oldest son eat liquid soap after he said “butt crack”. She made him open his mouth and he got a squirt of liquid soap, right down his throat.
Now mind you they allow these boys to play video games were swearing is commonplace and they even swear at their boys but saying butt crack I guess is an offense worthy of drinking poison I guess. I could not believe it.
Liquid soaps have so many chemicals in them it is outrageous…especially the antibacterial varieties. I just can’t fathom making a child consume chemicals as punishment for anything. The Supernanny also couldn’t believe it and she asked the mom rhetorically “Are you insane?!” She also implied that punishing a child in such a way expresses a conditional love. Jo also offered some of the soap to mom…because surely if she would have her kids eat soap then she wouldn’t have an issue with eating it to.
Well, the mom bugged out, said she didn’t see what the big deal was and stormed out of the house. She has some nasty things to say about Jo and didn’t want to continue the show. She also refused to eat the soap herself, saying “it’s not alright for me”. They did finish the show but you could see that things were strained and tense from that point on. I felt horrible for those boys after the show.
I know the “washing of the mouth” with soap thing was a popular parenting technique of long ago and perhaps I would not have had such an issue if it were relatively non-toxic bar soap but liquid soap??
Personally I wouldn’t do it. For one thing liquid soap is chock full of dangerous chemicals and kids have no business ingesting it. Second, I find that I don’t like to deal with kids in a manner that I cannot be proud of. If I can’t or won’t treat an adult in a certain manner (hitting them, slapping them, forcing them to eat soap) then I won’t treat a child that way either. In my family the principle of equality is very important. The thoughts, feelings, and needs of each individual (parent or child) is equally valued and equally considered. Golden rule parenting dictates that I give the respect I hope to get back.
My hubby on the other hand was not so mortified by the soap incident. Until I mentioned the chemicals in liquid soap he didn’t bat an eye. What are your thoughts?
