Last week, the internet was abuzz with the news of Charlize Theron mistreating her four year old son, to the extent that she was labeled the ‘Monster Mom’.
This post comes very soon after my post about abusive parenting. But being a celebrity brings it more to the limelight, Charlize Theron had to suffer from media glaze, anger and wrath recently while picking him up from a dance class.
Charlize has recently broken off with her long time beau Sean Pen and now is a single mom with young kids to deal with.
In this case, if you look at the pictures carefully, you see a truant kid and a hassled mom pulling her to the car.
If your kid does decide to lie down on the road next to your car, I guess you won’t just let him be, right?
There is also a picture of her yelling at the kid. All of us lose it at some point or the other. That doesn’t make us a ‘monster’! I remember how many times when my kids were toddlers, they would just throw a fit at the airport(thanks to the odd hours of international flights) and would just lie down on the floor and no amount of pleading, scaring them would help. One stranger crossing the scene, would just ask them politely and lo, they woudl get up and behave. Luckily, there was no media around me when I was trying to threaten my kids with fictional stories of the police coming and taking them if they didn’t behave in public. Luckily, I didn’t have to care for the hundreds of paparazi cameras horading at me when I am having a meltdown. It’s a luxury the Charlize can’t afford.
This is what I feel however, on the other hand there is a school of thought which strongly proclaims that reprimanding a child is fine, but you need to define boundaries. Hitting a child, insulting a child, dragging him/her in public can have long term effect on his/her self-esteem and definitely not advisable.
We would love to know what would go with or how would you have handled this situation better?
Being the mother of a 5 yr old son I completely understand this situation. Accorisng to me reprimanding is ok as long as it helps in eliminating bad behavior..iam absolutely against any physical forms of reprimanding…
Hard to talk about other people. Even if we knew everything, all the facts, we do not feel how they are feeling. We never lived the kind of lives they lived, and were never influenced by people and situations.
I can say this too, being a dad. I have been angry too. I went through a period where I used spanking as a means to discipline. At night, I would be up and awake and tears would roll down because I felt guilty. I don’t do that now. It works better, as it is.
It’s hard to say if a parent is abusive or not by simply looking at photos. As you have said, if your kid lies down on the road beside your car, you wouldn’t let your child just stay there. š
Parenting is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. I believe that the best kind of parenting is what brings out the best in both the child and the parent.
I believe that we should not judge the mom based on the social media posts and pictures. I have always believe that no mother would want to bring harm to their child. They may snap at times when the pressure and stress is overwhelming however, i would never doubt a mother’s love.
I can’t see anything bad in those pictures, just a mom picking up her child from the floor. I remember this time I was in Stansted airport and a child just wouldn’t behave. His mom just left him on the floor and sat down on a chair. The child screamed until he got bored, than got up the floor and went to him mom. Simple.
Exactly, now if it had been a celeb mom. She would be flanked by the paparazzi and God knows how many analogies of the situation.
I agree that in that scenario you are reacting and trying to get your child to safety and good behavior as quickly as possible, the fact that it was a celebrity polarized events we have all found ourselves in.
I don’t think tagging her abusive is not really so appropriate unless she was seen hitting her kids! My mom and most moms i know used to scold their kids and sometimes scaring them too but those are not an indication that they are being abusive! If moms tolerate their kids to do things that are always out of control, the kids will grew up believing that it is just right not to correct their actions
It just so happened that Charlize is a celebrity, a public figure so everyone is eyeing on her and the paparazzi are just doin it for their scoop
This is a true difficult subject. I’m not a mother yet, but I’m a true defensor of children everywhere. I don’t know the case that you are talking about, but if a child is lying next to a car I expect a good mother to not just let him. Childs can be difficult at times, but it is such a fine line between who is bad parenting or just parenting.
I don’t know what it is they were thinking at that moment, I am all for gentleness and talking to kids but if the situation calls for it, some abrumpt disciplining would be apt especially if it’s the chid’s safety involved.
Ok! I dont feel one should ever raise hands on their kids ! Discipline is indeed important but politeness is the way !