Fallen idols

Who remembers The New Mickey Mouse Club? The 1977 version? If you do, here is a trip down memory lane – look at these faces:

I was obsessed with them!! My absolute favorite was Lisa Whelchel. See that hairstyle she had? I did my best to copy it. Remember, I was 12. The perfect age for this. Lisa went on to do The Facts of Life which I also adored and of course I loved her snobby character! She had the longest career out of all these Mouseketeers and I was totally proud that I had picker her as MY favorite. Oh yes. So, um, what is she doing now? I know I heard her on the radio a few years ago touting her parenting book. I was vaguely aware that she had become a bit of a Christian missionary who home schooled her kids. Oof. Well, not my cup ‘o tea, but all props and respect to her for following her heart. Given that slant to her life though, I never bothered to read her book. And now I wish that I had never seen this Amazon review of it. But thanks to Faboomama, I did and I just had to share it here since so many of my readers are moms. Here’s the key summary of the book:

Lisa recommends:
–blindfolding children for an hour if they roll their eyes
–handcuffing quarreling siblings together
–putting quarreling siblings outside, whether it’s 30 degrees or 100 degrees
–making a child wear boxing gloves all day long for hitting; they are not to be removed for eating; as if this isn’t enough torture, she recommends videotaping the child trying to eat popcorn with the boxing gloves. This might be appropriate in the context of a family game night, but not in the context of humiliation and punishment.
–burning a few of the child’s toys if a child is caught playing with matches (what about putting the matches out of reach or doing some standard fire-safety education?)
–pinching a child’s tongue with a clothespin for disrespect
–pouring hot sauce on a child’s tongue
–saying “no to reasonable requests such as ‘may I go to the bathroom'” in the name of keeping children on their toes in terms of obedience
–restraining a one year old in a car seat if the child won’t stay in time out (time out is not appropriate for one year olds to begin with, and, with any child, if time out is not “working,” change your strategy– don’t restrain them!)
–making children stand in the center of the room for a long period of time if they are resisting bedtime (“make it tough” she says)
–making a child close the door quietly, like 100 times, for slamming a door

Um, WTF??? I hope she is putting aside money for her kid’s long term therapy sessions.*THUD* Hear that? That was the sound of my Mousketeer idol falling off her pedestal.