Give them Roots and Wings
This is an article about a Los Angeles Clinical Psychologist who uses the Talmud to teach mostly Non-Jewish parents healthy parenting skills. I gotta say that this article was kinda funny to me because it discusses the need for parents to back off of their kids and allow them to be self reliant and to forge into the world on their own even if this is scary- when I think of the classic stereotype of Jewish Parents (mine) I think of doting, overly giving, excessively coddling people who are constantly in fear of what will happen to their precious off springs and they make these worries extremely vocal- that's not exactly hands off. They are often too involved and support their kids way into adulthood. Now there are a lot of successful men and women out there who have been brought up by this kind of parenting just as there are a lot of people who benefited from a more Laissez Faire kind of attitude- so I am not promoting either kind- I just find it funny that the Talmud has all this beautiful wisdom about cutting off your kids and teaching them to do scary things. I don't think my parents read the Talmud. But they also never read the bible. Balance is good.
Funny side note- my grandmother once called my mother after midnight to tell her that if she went to the tailor the next day that she should be careful because the third step had a break in it and she could fall and break her neck. My mother always tells me this story whenever she calls me with her crazy warning calls.
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