Parents do have to be the "bad guy" sometimes.

Guess what else? Enforcing boundaries is not being "bad." It's being a parent. It's one of your three parental Must Do responsibilities in Hec's Good Enough Parenting Guide. 1) Keep them Alive. 2) Love them to bits. 3) Set Boundaries.

Guess what else? Enforcing boundaries is not being "bad."

It's not being bad, but it can be being "bad." In the sense that you might piss off the kid. But you know I'm all @@ about pissing off the kid.

OTOH, I should maybe get that for myself. Put the card in the other room.

I think it's just a poor way to market it.

I can see that it could be useful, though my mom would just shut off the television and we knew better than to turn it on, again.

Sounds like a great chance meeting, Hec.

Our family was so big that my parents couldn't possibly be everywhere at once, so such a device could have been useful. If the kids don't find a way to monkeywrench it.

I think it's not a good idea to overly rely on a device that is supposed to enforce boundaries for you. You get complacent and lose your edge.

For example: The drawer lock I thought would keep little hands off the sharp things. Owen ran into the living room carrying a steak knife today.

But you'd still be the bad guy. I mean, you're the one that set it up.

I totally like it, but I wonder how long until they work out how to hack it.

Can't decide what to have for dinner.

I think the primary use would be for when the parents aren't there. And then return to, "He played for an hour after school and wouldn't let me play at all, so now it's my turn." "Nuh uh, it was only 30 minutes because then so-and-so called..."

If you set time limits anyway, I can see the use. We didn't in our house, but my dad was the primary user anyway. I don't think it'd necessarily be abdicating responsibility. Especially given that it'd only work if you were already good at ignoring plea-bargaining.

ita, on Numbers tonight the woman I hate mentioned that she teaches krav maga at the Y. I rolled my eyes.

(Not very spoilery.)

For example: The drawer lock I thought would keep little hands off the sharp things. Owen ran into the living room carrying a steak knife today.

I am reminded of my grandmother's house, where they put latches on all the kitchen cabinets when the great-grands started coming, but didn't put anything on the drawers. So the above-the-counter cabinet with tupperware in it? Locked. The knee-high knife drawer? Wide open. Always makes me laugh. In a horrible way, of course.