by The Parenting Centre | Dec 30, 2025 | General
It is important to teach our children how negative change can happen so slowly it is almost imperceptible, until it is too late. Sometimes we don’t recognize how full the gutters are until the roof collapses.
I am NOT Nostradamus, but sometimes you watch events unfold that are SO predictable you want to scream. I want to go on record with a “prediction” that feels inevitable.
This refers to a country (and a leader) I am afraid to mention by name.
This country always prided itself on “democratic principles” and would brag about it to anyone who would listen. Over the last year, freedoms have been slowly limited. Opponents of the government have been attacked legally and the media has come under increasingly government control.
The military has been used to support the government’s agenda. More and more power is invested in the leader, and the “system of checks and balances” is a charade as the courts and legislature fall into lockstep to support the supreme leader. If it looks like fascism, smells like fascism, etc.
The problem for this regime is that they must run for re-election in 2028…unless they don’t.
Prediction:
1) Over the next 2 years there will be increasing hostility with a foreign country; most likely one with a non-Caucasian population (so racism can be part of the government’s fear- mongering).
2) There will be a series of internal “terrorist” attacks; likely staged, but blamed on
this enemy.
3) There will be a declaration of war against this “enemy”
4) 2028 elections will be suspended in the interest of stability and “national security”.
We might think “oh it will never go THAT far”, but what would we have said five years ago about a government getting TV hosts kicked off the air because their jokes offended the leader? And that’s the lesson – sometimes we don’t notice what’s happening until it’s too late.
by The Parenting Centre | Dec 30, 2025 | General
I’ve never used this forum before for a movie review, but I just saw something that is a commentary on how we view parenting, vulnerable children and society.
In this movie, a man who allegedly loves his family (3 small children) decides to become a robber. This choice is somehow portrayed as “endearing” and the subtext is he loved them so much and wanted to buy them nice birthday gifts. What about getting a job?
Then his “MO” was to go through the roof of McDonald’s and kidnap the crew when they opened in the morning, locking them in the freezer. He robbed 45 McDonald’s according to the movie – can you imagine the terror and lifelong trauma of these victims, most of whom were probably young people? The film glosses over this and we continue to embrace this “lovable rogue” persona.
For me, the part that was most upsetting is when the criminal meets a single mother and romances her. We’re supposed to identify with the “love story” but he does not tell her anything that is true to promote his own selfish interest and the expense of her and her children.
Although he is overtly sketchy (he won’t answer directly when asked where he is from or what he does for work) she invites him into her home and allows him around her two daughters. Is this protective parenting? Again, no mention of this in the movie, where the single Mum is made into an almost heroic and certainly sympathetic character. The ONLY line in the movie that rang true is when the 16 year old girl assails the Mum for inviting this creep into their home and says “I hope the sex is worth it”.
To endear himself to this “rebellious teenager” the criminal is going to buy her a used car (with money obtained through stolen goods). The whole family goes for a test drive and a scene is played for laughs where he drives recklessly with the children in the car, including slamming on the brakes to a skidding 180 degree stop. Why do we minimize and even glorify the vulnerability of children and our responsibility as parents to protect them?
I walked out after that scene.
I know “it’s just a movie” but to me this normalizes, and glamorizes, some pretty disgusting themes in how we view society, responsibility to others and parenting.
by The Parenting Centre | Dec 30, 2025 | General
Having raised two children as a single parent, I can empathize with both the incredible joy, and the overwhelming stress of that role. One of the many complex issues facing single parents is the decision to date, and when to introduce a new partner to their children.
When I first started dating and my children were quite small, I found myself shying away from telling them what I was doing. I would say things like “I am going out”, or “I am going to dinner” or “I am going hiking” – all of those things were true, but I wasn’t saying I had a date. At some point I realized that dating is a joyful, healthy, happy thing that adults do. I thought if I truly celebrated it, I had nothing to hide, and after that revelation I would just say “I have a date”.
Sometimes my children would ask who the date was with, and I would tell them the person’s name. After there were several dates with the same person, my children (around 8 and 11 when I started dating) might ask questions about her, and I’d answer as honestly as I could. The question that always made me hesitate was when they asked if they could meet her.
So many single parents face this question: when is the right time to introduce a new partner? I want to stress that there is NO “right time” or “wrong time”. The axiom is that if you feel the person is someone who is likely to be in your life for the foreseeable future, as partner or just as friend, then it is “safe” to introduce them.
What we are trying to avoid is our children meeting many new people who they might develop some relationship with, and then those people vanish.
Please remember this is not an exact science and we cannot predict the future. We can carefully make this assessment (“will this person always be in our lives?”) and just be wrong. We are human, and as with all things, give yourself grace. If you do make this sort of “mistake” remind yourself you are coming from a good place and acted with the best intentions. And then tell your children the truth (of course they don’t need the details and they certainly don’t need a discussion about who was at fault). Just tell them you are no longer seeing the person and let them handle it however they do…and of course be there to listen, love and support them.
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