Word: agee
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...newspapers last month. And superficially at least, his arguments seem to make sense. For more than a generation, observes Rosemond, experts like Dr. T. Berry Brazelton have advised parents to let kids decide for themselves when to make the transition from diapers to potty. As a result, the age of toilet training has risen dramatically--as has the incidence of constipation, bladder-control problems and other potty-related ills...
Just as bad, argues Rosemond, is the psychological damage inflicted by wishy-washy parents. "The issue," he says, "is the mother's ability to give up the role of caretaker and become an authority figure." If that transition is delayed much beyond the age of two, says Rosemond, the child won't mature properly and will probably develop behavior problems later in life...
...makes the whole thing so silly, he says, is that toilet training can be a snap if you use the technique he calls "naked and $75." You remove the diaper, put a portable potty within reach of your two-year-old and wait for the inevitable accident. "Kids that age hate to have 'it' running down their legs," Rosemond explains. "So they stop the flow, and you lead them to the seat. The $75 is for cleaning the carpet." Within a few days, he says, the child is trained--and knows who's boss. "This technique is not my idea...
...ascribes it to a return to the old ways, not reliance on the new. "Working parents don't have a lot of time for a leisurely approach to toilet teaching," he says, and observes that many day-care centers insist that children be out of diapers by age three. Under this sort of pressure, he suspects, many are resorting to just the sort of rigid timetables Rosemond advocates. Like Brazelton, psychologist and child-care expert Penelope Leach dismisses the notion that laid-back parenting has caused problems. She too believes kids who are forced to use the toilet before they...
Consider the current movement to have school-age children fingerprinted just in case the police-department coloring books fail to thwart abduction. Ever try to fingerprint a seven-year-old without having her ask why? (She might even ask a more troubling question: How likely is it that a fingerprint would help you locate an abducted child...