Comments on: Parenting Lessons From the Shabbat Table 1

By: RWE

RWE — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 19:51:41 +0000

Nice story and lesson learned (hopefully) for the parents. It’s good for parents to take a step back as you’ve pointed out and out themselves in the shoes of the child in order to frame comments constructively.

By: EmahS

EmahS — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 23:11:07 +0000

oh how sad. Hope they’re putting away money now for the therapy bills. :(

By: Yaakov

Yaakov — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 05:08:01 +0000

EmahS – the Dad did not freak. Just ignored it. But the better line came later on, when they were deciding if Yonatan had been a “good enough boy” to get desert. Other people on the table started voucing for him, that from everything we had seen, he had been a very good boy tonight and had eaten all of the food that was ~~given~~ shoveled into his mouth. Dad responded to this by saying: “Yonatan is a good by…” (pause to look down at the boy and frown) “…as long as he behaves”.

By: EmahS

EmahS — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 01:18:02 +0000

Especially to ask the question in front of everyone! So did the dad freak when you told the mom the truth? Frustrating how people don’t praise their kids and “Catch them being good!”

By: aliyah06

aliyah06 — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 22:09:25 +0000

Good for you for speaking nicely about Yonatan. One should never embarass another (at any age) in public, but it is especially hurtful to children who rely on parental encouragement and love. Also, don’t let Ima off so easily–if this is a pattern of critical comment, she should be smart enough to see it, and to stop it. Certainly she should quit asking her husband questions which she knows will elicit criticism of her child.