Emily and Kevin talk about dealing with a Disney parent. They discuss ideas on coping with your child after being spoiled with the other parent.

 

Transcript:

Emily: Divorce Talk Radio does not give therapeutic advice. The topics discussed are for informational purposes only. If you are in need of therapy or counseling please consult a licensed professional in your own state.

Welcome to Divorce Talk Radio. This is Moving Forward. I am your host Emily McGrath with my co-host Kevin McCarthy. How are you today, Kevin?

Kevin: Emily, hey, how are you? Thank you for having me here as always.

Emily: Thank you for being here and thank you to our listeners as well for being here. Today we’re talking about a topic that I’m always dealing with, Disney parents. I’ve diagnosed it as Disney parents.

Kevin: Disney parents? Just a little side bar here, Emily, then we’ll go back. Actually there are some acquaintances of mine that, it turns out I didn’t really know this or pay attention to it, but a lot of people get married at Disney Land and Disney World. Did you know that? I didn’t really know that. Either I was just totally dumb by it. There you go.

Emily: Interesting.

Kevin: A lot of things take place at Disney Land and Disney World, and amusement and theme parks overall.

Emily: Yes, and there are individuals in their own Disney Land.

Kevin: That’s right. We’ll put it nicely by saying just that. What would Roy Disney think at this time?

Emily: I don’t know. It’s probably not what he would have wanted.

Kevin: Not at all. Mickey Mouse came a long way since Minnie.

Emily: Yes. What I mean by Disney parents is either mom or dad in the individual family who give the child anything that they want whether it be from sugar cereal to watching TV or pop, and no rules.

Kevin: Al lright, so why would they do that? What would be the reasoning?

Emily: For the child to love them. Children love their parents unconditionally.

Kevin: Right.

Emily: No matter what they love them unconditionally.

Kevin: I know when the chips are down with my kids, we might have had a little argument or something, but push comes to shove here comes old daddy. Dad’s there for them, but still I think you bring up a great topic today.

Emily: This way of parenting is not productive. It is a false sense of love because it’s all things or food or

whatever the case may be. There’s no discipline. There are no boundaries at all, and it can be hard on the other parent who parents with boundaries, discipline, and healthy food. I deal with this on a weekly basis I get: “But, dad says this, and dad lets me have this, and have that.” How do you deal with that? My way of working with

this, because it has come up.

Kevin: In general you would just want to make the kid happy because he or she is going home back to the other parent in two days, so you go out, you pig out, you order the third pizza that you had for the past two nights because the kid wanted it. Is that where we’re going here?

Emily: Right, yes. What I do, this may not always work, is explain to my son: “Well, you have two homes and things are different at daddy’s house and things are different at mommy’s house. We have rules at mommy’s house, and we don’t eat junk.” I don’t allow junk in the house.  Occasionally I’ll let him have a treat here or there, but it’s not a regular basis. I want him to have a good breakfast especially now that he’s in school. He needs to have something that’s going to stick with him. I don’t believe sugar cereals, or Pop Tarts, or anything like that is going to sustain his learning and stay with him until snack time.

Kevin: Right.

Emily: I prefer to do proteins and healthy fruits and vegetables, well not vegetables for breakfast.

Kevin: Boy, you really drive that kid back to dad real quick.

Emily: Actually, he’s very good a[...]