N pulled several copies of To Train Up A Child off of the shelf at the kinesiologist's office the other day. He was selling them for $5 apiece. I was so shocked to see it there, and being sold by him of all people, that I didn't feel comfortable directly confronting him about it, but I did tell N that it was a very sad book, and it wasn't one we would play with, and then I sat him down to look at "Go Dogs, Go!" (he preferred a battered copy of Readers' Digest). I've known my kinesiologist and his family for coming up on 15 years. I never dreamed they'd approve of this stuff! I guess it's because every time I've seen them, and seen how they interact with their kids (ages 12-19), they've seemed so in touch, and so well, AP.
I think it bugs me so much because the impression I get is that (in public, anyway) as long as Junior and Siblings are behaving perfectly, Pearled children look great, Pearled parents look great, and the Pearled Parent-Child Relationship looks great. However, as soon as one of the kids put one toe out of line, it immediately becomes punitive to an extreme, and any concept of Grace or understanding is out the window.
I'd go so far as to say that Pearl methods are wolves in sheep's clothing, and that really bugs me. Their little-baby stuff (co-sleeping, breastfeeding) sounds so right, and when you get into the relationship advice, and 'tying strings' it makes so much sense, and sounds so great, and it really seems like that's exactly what it takes to be close to your kids. Then when the "training" part comes in, it doesn't sound so extreme, even when it is.
I just can't seem to wrap my head around it.
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