A spoken monologue (YouTube) by 'Clegg' criticizing a perceived American over-emphasis on parents playing with or watching their children. The speaker argues children should accompany parents to work so they learn responsibility and are prepared for adult life; the speaker contrasts play-focused parenting with workplace exposure and claims his children became successful entrepreneurs after experiencing his work life.
Chapters
One of the biggest problems I see in American parenting is we emphasize and over emphasize and then re emphasize this whole idea that parents should spend more time playing with their children and more time watching their children play. When I was growing up, there was a big emphasis placed on children going to work with their parents. And the reason this is so important is because your children are going to step into the world that you live in. You're not going back into the world they live in. You're not going back to playland, but they're coming into work land. And you're a far better parent who takes your child to work with you even if you miss their ball game or don't play with them every evening or every weekend than you are if you just, oh, I'm going to spend so much time playing with them because I want them to feel loved. I want them to feel loved. But when they get out there in life, I want my kids to feel ready. And they're not going to feel ready if all you've done is watch them play and played with them. There's nothing wrong playing with your children. I played with mine, but when it's time to work, they went to work with me. And that's why my children are successful entrepreneurs to this day. And if you do the right thing with your kids and stop emphasizing play, your children can grow up and be responsible adults.
