Double parenting -- parenting a child who isn’t yours -- is a touchy subject for some parents and should not be entered into lightly. Parents take their roles as guardians and teachers very seriously, and often don’t appreciate others getting involved. I always thought, especially with nieces and nephews, that “it takes a village,” and any help is good help, but I’ve learned that “it takes a village,” applies to holding, feeding, changing, etc., not teaching behavior. Of course, no one ever told me about this double parenting pet peeve until I had a child of my own. I’m sure parents’ abhorrence of double parenting was ubiquitous and I just never picked up on it. Even the Real Housewives of Orange County, which is obviously not groundbreaking or insightful, covered it in a re-run today when two of the wives bicker about Gretchen attempting to double parent Lynn’s daughter. Some parents openly encourage family and friends to double parent in the behavioral department. Other parents quietly stand by and simmer as they glare squinty-eyed at their friends and relatives derailing their parental teachings. I wonder which kind of parent I’ll turn out to be.
I agree that this is a touchy issue. I've think that I'd be upset if relatives or friends disciplined my child in a way that I didn't agree with. But then again, I don't have kids, and as you wrote, its hard to understand and truly relate until you have a child of your own! I did think, however, that Gretchen was out of line in the episode of RHOOC :)
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