Interview with author Amy McCready recently published in the Seattle Times:
No one wants to be the parent of a child going viral in a video, screaming in a restaurant or throwing a tantrum in the cereal aisle. So how can parents form a foundation that fights back against a culture where it seems kids are entitled to anything — be it a trophy for showing up or the newest jeans everyone's wearing at school? Amy McCready, founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, has a few ideas. Her book, "The 'Me, Me, Me' Epidemic: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World," out in August 2015 describes a land in which kids can hear the word "no." McCready, a Raleigh, N.C., mom of 17- and 19-year-old sons, talked to us about tamping down the scourge of entitlement. This is an edited transcript.
Q: You're a self-described "recovering yeller." What inspired you to write this book?
A: Most of my work has been around teaching parents, from toddlers to teens, how to bring out the best in their kids. Over the years, this topic of entitlement kept coming up. Parents told me about kids not being able to take "no" for an answer, expecting bribes or rewards for expected behavior, kids who were not willing to help out at home, not taking personal responsibility.
The one thing I have found with all of these parents is no one intends to raise an entitled child. It happens out of love. And it happens when we're sort of doing things for our kids that they're actually perfectly capable of doing for themselves. Or we don't want them to experience disappointment, so we step in and rescue.
Q: Do you feel we're seeing more of this entitled behavior now?
A: It does feel like this issue of entitlement has grown to epidemic proportions, and it's not...
Continue reading the full article here:
Originally published by Alison Bowen from the Chicago Tribune
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