My buddy Tony Woodlief has been productive since our college days, having produced a PhD and 4 boys with his wife Celeste. He also writes about life as a parent in the modern age while quoting great thinkers and philosophers. Though his tone is quite critical of many modern parenting theories, he's also quite well read and funny to boot. I bought his short pamphlet,
"Raising Wild Boys into Men" and enjoyed that. Today, he made the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal, where he waxes thusly on parental permissiveness:
Many parents in the unconstrained camp adhere to Rousseau's sentiment: "Man is born free, but everywhere is in chains." They not only fail to punish bad behavior but snarl at anyone who rebukes their precious darlings. In our house we have reversed Rousseau's theory: You are born in bondage and should be darn grateful for the free room and board. Besides, if you want to talk about restrictions on liberty you can take it up with your mother, who hasn't had an uninterrupted trip to the bathroom since 2001.
Worth a read!
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