Book Review: I'm Okay, You're a Brat
More and more people are withstanding the intense pressure they feel from family and friends, and deciding that while they might indeed love any children they would have, they doubt whether they would love the Parenthood role. And they are deciding not to have children.
I'm Okay, You're a Brat by Susan Jeffers, PhD
I don't know that I can really review this book as I didn't actually read it in its entirety. After reading part of it, I felt that it was too negative for my tastes and looked through the rest of it instead of actually reading it. For anyone who is ambivalent about the decision whether or not to have kids, this book would most likely push them over the edge to remain without children. The downsides and perils to parenthood are outlined over and over throughout the book. Reasons why people have children are outlined and discussed. Most of the reasons are not really good reasons for taking on such a large responsibility. For instance, "all our friends are having kids" is not a good reason to start a family!
This book is not for the faint of heart, but it is an honest look at parenthood. Here is a quote near the beginning that I found encouraging:
4 comments:
I love that book. It should be put into the hands of every one age 13 and over. The author is parent and knows of what she speaks.
I think it should be required reading by every high-school/college student. Schools take great delight in doling sacks of flour and eggs for the students to supposedly simulate the realities and responsibilities of parenthood. Forget that....the book would be a better choice, and, unlike the "parenthing excersices" the author doesn't make the smug assumption that all people go on to have kids...
I tried an online search once for the baby doll that wet's its pants and cries for no reason. I heard about it being used in Home Economics classes. I think it would be fun to post about this. The H.E. instructor at my high school had everyone on campus talking about the "pretend baby" that her students had to carry around as an assignment. I wonder if there was assigned reading? A-plus for raising awareness of the burdens of parenting.
The doll that's used for the H.E. classes is called Baby Think it Over, and it was introduced in the San Diego School Dist. a few years ago. The doll is equipped with a recorder that registers how long it took the student to respond to cries, and how roughly the doll hand been handled, if at all. The instructors are able to use the recorder to grade how well the students did in the project. The engineer who designed it used a recording of his own daughter's cry since it was especially ear-shattering.
They should make a doll for CF teens and young adults and call it "Baby Oh, Hell No!"
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