Quote:
Originally Posted by flatbutt
Forgive what may be obvious but Exposure Therapy = Face Your Fears? If so it's nothing new. It's often referred to as "manning up". Or am I just a neanderthal frozen in time?
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You can be right and still be a Neanderthal
Quote:
Originally Posted by flatbutt
It is a different world Fint. My grandkids live in an urban environment and my 7 year old grand daughter will start walking to school by herself next year because her older brother is moving to the middle school. I'm not at all comfortable with it.
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So much has changed, even from when my children were little, and we live in a rural area that, while less of a overall burdeen, comes with different sets of situational awareness requirements.
What we did with our children was the introductions into playing music, working on equipment, mowing, riding small ATV's, watercraft, horses, sports, etc. Our only stipulation was if they decided to try, they could not quit until the season or semester was over.
Mowing, chores, not so much.
But they never stopped even after rocky starts. That is the power of activity, of bring in the arena: Set backs and the horrors of losing and not playing well are the same for everyone...it is going to happen.
For me it was sports. I had no interest in the ancillary aspects of playing sports, just that I wanted to compete and see how I stacked up. I hated the build up tp games, the nonsense surrounding even HS competitions. But that was part of the exposure.
Then the games, the blessed games...three things I remember clearly. Football made me anxious and nervous until the first smack, then I could settle in. Baseball made me happy since the first time I remember playing the game. Basketball: While I started all 4 years in HS, I knew I was one new kid in town from Sixth Man, two from El Bencho and three from being buried with Hoffa
Our kids need exposure, competition, winners and losers, the gamut. Got to live.