In front of you is a Mom and her son. He is jumping up and down, repeatedly saying her name, grabbing items off the impulse rack that she then has to wordlessly return, and genuinely showing some bratty behaviors. And she is calmly ignoring it all.
Of course she is ignoring it all: She is a pro at that. Parents have to develop a way to drown out their children's annoying behaviors or they will drive themselves crazy responding to them.
I like to think of this as Parental Blindness Syndrome. I know my child is a good person and working on certain behaviors, so I will turn a blind eye to the less desirable ones and not nitpick at him for every little thing.
But there are times when PBS can get us into trouble: Like when it comes to our child's health.
In a small study, which should be expanded for verification, doctors found that grandparents and other family members were better than parents at identifying the symptoms of autism at a very early age. It's true: Those family members one-step removed from the parental relationship were able to see the symptoms that parents did not.
Since one of the keys to fighting autism is early intervention, this is pretty big news.
It can be hard to listen to anyone criticize your children (if not downright impossible). But since we already have a blind eye; we should work to make sure we don't have a deaf ear as well.
Do you have family members who point out flaws in your children? Tell me how you feel about that in the comments.
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