One summer, I was working a tent at a festival for the local website I was writing for at the time. We had to move the tent a couple times, and during one of those moves, my wallet fell out of my bag. By the time I realized this, it was gone.

The stress- exactly. I don't know the little girl, but asking a nine-year-old to take care of herself for 8 hours is kind of a tall order. Having that safety net of home to return to, with all its comforts (with or without Mom) is pretty important.

I agree. My biggest concern was that the little girl had nowhere to go if she didn't want to be at the park (someone was bothering her, she ran out of water and it was hot out, or just got bored) and pictured her wandering around trying to find somewhere else to be. Knowing she was that close to where her mom worked…

Like, currently, or that she had in the past? I think I had read a post from her in the past where she talked about causing herself health problems because she went vegan at the same time she took up distance running, but didn't come out and acknowledge an eating disorder. I can't blame her if she didn't, though -…

Right. I know it isn't popular to say this, but I take childless/free people's opinions on childrearing with a grain of salt because they don't have the same understanding of developmental stages as someone who is around their kid day-in and day-out does.

I can agree with that. I also think that some parents may pick more battles because they have so much else going on. If you only have two hours a day with your kids, you probably don't want to spend them in a power struggle over what to eat for dinner. Definitely not always the best approach, but understandable.

Exactly. It's one of those givens the same way that it's a "given" that kids these days are so much more out of control, crime is so much worse, etc. It's not backed up by evidence. Frankly, people in their 20s and 30s see a 3-year-old acting out and declare that their parents would have never tolerated that - like…

Yep, that sounds like my two-year-old. There's a reason why they call it the terrible twos.

Sure. But from my perspective, sometimes kids should be allowed to set their own boundaries. I let my kid decide the small things but stay firm on the big things. As a result, he's a lot more easygoing about the big things because he isn't frustrated from being told "no" constantly all day. Obviously, parents decide…

Absolutely. It can be a tricky line to walk - I've said before that it might just be the hardest thing about parenting. Like, if my kid starts with the little requests at bedtime - mommy, kiss my boo-boo pease? Mommy, get my pillow pease? Mommy, drinka water pease? - at what point do I say "no, kid, you're stalling,…

Well, it's up to each parent to set their own boundaries. But personally, if I don't ask ahead of time and then it turns out my kid really wanted one particular cup, whoops, that's on me. I will make him say please and thank you, though, but I'd put it in a different cup.

Well, here's a comment from earlier:

Nope, it isn't about feeling bad at all. It's about having an understanding of child development and the importance of asserting himself in developmentally appropriate ways.

See, I disagree - the author specifically holds up the "sippy cup test" as a test of the parent's abilities as a whole. Her argument is that if a parent doesn't put their foot down with the little things, they obviously won't with the big things.

But see that's what I'm saying - even if you are good about enforcing consequences, kids will be bratty sometimes (because they're in the process of learning not to be). But today, people point to the fact that the kids are being bratty as examples of how terrible kids these days are. If my kid has a meltdown at the…

But that's the thing - it's quite different to him! He doesn't want a bath but he's OK with a wipedown. So I do a wipedown. It's all the same to me - the outcome is a clean kid. So I'm not going to get into a power struggle over whether we take a bath or not.

Again, though - that's the very definition of picking your battles. So what if I pour the milk in another cup? Not worth getting into the power struggle (although I will demand that he say please and thank you). I'll save that for ten minutes later when I tell my kid he can't dump the juice on the floor.

OK, the issue is that there's another dish to clean. I still put that firmly in the "small things" category. Not worth the fight and it's a small enough sacrifice to be able to say yes to my kid for once. We'll have the "mommy isn't a maid" discussion when he wants to dump his apple juice on the floor.

Meh. I still don't see it as a big deal. Like I said, I do make my kid say please if he asks for something, but sure, I'll get him a new cup. It takes ten seconds. It's a small thing. Ten minutes later when he wants to make his toy go swimming in the toilet I'll put my foot down and we can have the "you can't always…

Yes, a single sippy cup incident shouldn't be used to judge someone's entire parenting style, but it is an indicator that can be used to build a bigger picture. In GENERAL, if you give into the small things, you give into the big things and your kids DO understand that.