From the ArcaMax Publishing, Parents Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/parents/s-571647-330073
Here’s more material that just arrived in the mailroom at the
top-secret underground location of the Rosemond One-World Flawless
Parenting Headquarters.
Reader Objects to My Favorite Therapist: A woman who preferred not to
be identified believes that I am wrong to invent “The Doctor” as a
means of persuading young children to abandon certain maladaptive
behaviors. (In this regard, one might recall that in a column of two
weeks past, a mother testified that my favorite therapist cured, in
one night, severe bedtime anxieties in her 6-year-old.) Said reader
believes this constitutes “a retreat from putting the responsibility
for discipline on parents, where it belongs, but also casts the doctor
as a mean, unpleasant person,” thus setting up physicians as people
to be “disliked and even feared.” A legitimate concern, but as it
turns out, unfounded. Never have I received a letter from a physician
objecting to this use of their reputation, and the ones I’ve talked
with about it approve wholeheartedly. Nor has any parent ever
reported, in the more than ten years since I invented my imaginary
friend, a negative reaction from a child. I also assert that my
phantasm has a much higher cure rate than most flesh-and-blood
therapists.
The Family Bed, Revisited: Lots of folks have responded, pro and con,
to a recent article in which I went where many husbands are afraid to
go: I said that the so-called “family bed” is a poor substitute
for a healthy marriage. Several respondents defensively pointed out
that in most Third World countries, most families have one
bed—therefore, a “family bed.” Ah, but that compares apples to
oranges. I certainly agree that such togetherness is preferable to
some members of the family sleeping on dirt, hard floors, or outside
where they might be vulnerable to prowling beasts. Making the point,
one woman wrote that in a remote and very poor village in which she
briefly lived in Guatemala, parents shared beds with their kids. But
as soon as these parents came into sufficient funds, they added on to
their small houses. The first addition, always, was a second bedroom.
Contrary to the claims of its proponents—chiefly Dr. William Sears,
author of The Natural Baby—family co-sleeping is not a more
“natural” way of sleeping. It is unnatural, and people who are
forced to do so correct the situation as soon as they are able.
Is Rosemond a Loose Cannon? A reader accuses me of giving advice that
is outside the mainstream of my profession, coming close to saying
that I am a loose, and therefore dangerous, cannon. Right, and wrong.
I am a psychologist who does not share a mainstream psychological
point of view when it comes to children, families, discipline,
parenting, behavior (bad or good), emotional issues, the diagnosis of
mental disorders, or even the nature of human beings. The
psychological point of view is progressive, ever-changing (some would
claim it is improving). My point of view is traditional, which is to
say I do not believe there is anything new under the sun. I also pull
no punches. I tell people what I think they need to hear, whether they
want to hear it or not; to which someone might rejoin that it is
egocentric of me to think that I know what people need to hear.
Indeed, and that is why I voluntarily submit every single one of my
columns for review by another psychologist and a pediatrician, both of
whom possess impeccable credentials. If one or both of them raises
serious questions concerning something I have written, I either
re-write it until it meets their approval or dispose of it. A recent
column in which I commented on a controversial childhood behavior
disorder was recently deep-sixed for that very reason. However, the
mere fact that a column will raise hackles does not render it
unsuitable for publication.
Heretic, yes. Loose cannon, no.
Family psychologist John Rosemond answers parents' questions on his
website at www.rosemond.com.
*About the Author: John Rosemond has written nine best-selling
parenting books and is one of America's busiest and most popular
speakers, known for his sound advice, humor and easy, relaxed,
engaging style. In the past few years, John has appeared on numerous
national television programs including 20/20, Good Morning America,
The View, Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect, Public Eye, The Today
Show, CNN, and CBS Later Today.
Visit Rosemond's Web site,
www.rosemond.com. Currently, Rosemond is offering two
of his books for the price of one.
NEW: Read the first chapter of Rosemond's
newest release "The Diseasing of America's Children: Exposing the
ADHD Fiasco and Empowering Parents to Take Back Control" at BookDaily.com.