3 poison pee’s
10/03/2010
I love Seinfeld. Something about that series is just different and genuinely funny. And over here, it’s on TV every day! It’s hard to pick a favourite, but the chronologically backwards episode is right up there. The one where they go to India for a wedding.
Anyway, recently Jerry Seinfeld gave an interview in some magazine, and here’s a gem about parenting:
Seinfeld has three rules of parenting, what he calls “the poison Ps.” The first is Praise—“We tell our kids, ‘Great job!’ too much,” he says. The second is Problem-solving—“We refuse to let our children have problems. Problem-solving is the most important skill to develop for success in life, and we for some reason can’t stand it if our kids have a situation that they need to ‘fix.’ Let them struggle—it’s a gift.”
Just as he’s explaining the third P—“Giving your child too much Pleasure”—a woman comes in the deli with her three young daughters and buys them all huge cookies. “Can you believe this?” Seinfeld says, gesturing like his TV counterpart used to. “It’s 5:30 p.m.—when will they have dinner? At 8?”
It explains so much. It explains all those whiney contestants on American Idol who can’t believe that 1) Simon is telling it like it is – ie they suck and should stop singing forever 2) they don’t have any talent 3) they aren’t going to be a hit anywhere on earth.
It’s a good thing I boil my water before I drink it, but someone please tell me if I catch a case of delusion, thanks.
