I wouldn’t purport to be able to write a full post of sufficient quality!
But I can say the obvious is true: I become aware just what a soft touch I am, even when I realise it’s a bad idea; I have to keep in mind what I’m supposed to be doing and what’s a good idea and why I’m not doing the thing that’s a good idea; I occasionally come to awareness carrying a Hello Kitty balloon and a fairy princess sticker book and a drink and an ice cream and then doing a stack trace to work out precisely how I got there, while the small child is demanding more things.
Keep the sensible thing firmly in mind as much as possible, and don’t put up with tantrums. The child wants candy all the time, but your job is actually raising her properly. Children are highly evolved manipulators, for really obvious reasons. Mine appears particularly charming, based on how others appear similarly susceptible. It helps if I channel her mother, who is not a soft touch at all because this is her third rather than her first. Stuff like that.
I thought that was the definition of a parent’s job, and the arguments come in the details. Perhaps that’s dodging the question. I’d think it reasonably uncontroversial to say that the answer wouldn’t involve giving in to the child’s every demand for physical or mental candy, though.
I haven’t read the Caplan book, but I can say that having a child is way cool. Watching a small intelligence grow.
I wouldn’t purport to be able to write a full post of sufficient quality!
But I can say the obvious is true: I become aware just what a soft touch I am, even when I realise it’s a bad idea; I have to keep in mind what I’m supposed to be doing and what’s a good idea and why I’m not doing the thing that’s a good idea; I occasionally come to awareness carrying a Hello Kitty balloon and a fairy princess sticker book and a drink and an ice cream and then doing a stack trace to work out precisely how I got there, while the small child is demanding more things.
Keep the sensible thing firmly in mind as much as possible, and don’t put up with tantrums. The child wants candy all the time, but your job is actually raising her properly. Children are highly evolved manipulators, for really obvious reasons. Mine appears particularly charming, based on how others appear similarly susceptible. It helps if I channel her mother, who is not a soft touch at all because this is her third rather than her first. Stuff like that.
It’s not at all obvious what this means. Have you read Bryan Caplan’s book? Or, at least, a selection of his blog posts?
I thought that was the definition of a parent’s job, and the arguments come in the details. Perhaps that’s dodging the question. I’d think it reasonably uncontroversial to say that the answer wouldn’t involve giving in to the child’s every demand for physical or mental candy, though.
I haven’t read the Caplan book, but I can say that having a child is way cool. Watching a small intelligence grow.