What counts as "dumb stuff that parents usually hassle kids about?"  
What doesn't?  Examples, please -- many, many, examples!
Is there a consensus on this among kids or non-parents, or any
regional or age-related correlation?

11 responses total.

I try really hard not to hassle my kids about dumb stuff or accidents.  They
are growing, learning creatures and do most of their learning by doing.  I
hassle my daughter about standing up straight and using too much makeup,
especially foundation.  She thinks this is hassling her about dumb stuff, but
I see this as trying to make her understand the benefits of good posture and
clean skin.  She will swear that she has to wear the makeup because it hides
her freckles, but I try to explain that it will be easier to keep the frecles
from darkening by using sun screen and that foundation tends to clog up skin
and create more problems which will then have to be dealt with...she still
thinks it is hassling her about dumb stuff...so I guess it is a matter of
opinion.  Are you being hassled?  Do you hassle?

Frieda, to a teenager, a slight hint is "hassling".  Doesn't mean you
should stop entirely- it also let's her know you still care.

Hassaling: Telling someone to do something that they were on their way to
doing anyway.

My sister remedies this by refusing to do anything our mother mentions if she
was on her way to doing it anyway.  Not very mature, but she actually does
do a lot more than our parents give her credit for when left alone.

I used to get annoyed when my parents reminded me to bring my violin to school
(I didn't take private lessons; only school lessons) because I had not once
forgotten my instrumetn and yet they acted like I would always forget.

I also got annoyed when all the adults kept on insisting that I sit down
before I hold my cousin.  Of course, now I know why they did.  Who would let
a five-year-old walk around with a newborn in her arms?

I think it depends on the person.  You can't lump kids into one big group.
Just like adults, we're very different people.

This response has been erased.

Heh.  I don't think *I* was, & my kids forget enough stuff that such reminders
seem pretty necessary.  It gets to be a habit awfully quickly, & probably
encourages forgetfulness.

I chalk of my kids' amazing memory to having less clutter in there.  And they
do remember an incredible amount, but they get sufficiently distracted that
the effect is as if they'd forgotten to bring their lunch box, or where I
left the bathroom, or whatever...
I sort of think, although I haven't quite got the courage to follow through,
that by reminding them of every little bit, we train them to forget, to
require the reminder, instead of teaching and allowing them to be responsible.

Kids do have better memories than adults.  One year my sister and I rememberd
my parents' anniversary and made them a big card.  When we gave it to them,
it turned out that *they* had forgotten their own aniiversary!

I have an odd memory.  It remembers the strangest things.  It's always been
this way znd I'm beginning to think it always will be...

   same here, abchan. my mind has always been a trivia-sponge. in fact, i've
been dubbed the "keeper of knowledge esoteric" by some of my friends.

Re 6: That's what I meant, Kami.  There are things we *have* to remind them
of, for their own safety.  There are things we remind them of because *we*
view the consequences of their forgetting as too awful to live with - such
as packing something for a trip, when the alternatives are (later) either
driving home 600 miles to get it or living with constant whining for two
weeks, for example.  This gets us in the habit, so we try to help them avoid
frustration or minor pain by reminding them of things; but this trains them
to assume that it's *our* job to remember.

This response has been erased.

Re: 10 That's what happens a lot with kids who go to college.  They're so used
to their parents hassling them to do homework that they get to college and
don't do it and even though they're smart, end up flunking out because for
the first time, they need to be reponsiblle for their own actions.  I think
it's better to start earlier.  Mistakes made when younger usually won't effect
your life as a whole as much.

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