Comments on: Will You Referee?

By: Cheri Pryor

Cheri Pryor — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:57:25 +0000

I’m pretty sure I read all the responses….and am I seriously the ONLY ONE who wonders HOW this little girl got your phone number in the first place?? lol!!

“We’ll see” is great. 7 is waaaaaay too young for girlfriend/boyfriend but if you make a big deal of it, will he then wonder WHY it is such a big deal? I’m on the fence. Story of my life. lol!

By: Elena

Elena — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:48:23 +0000

Hmm… not sure what 7-year-olds would have to say in a phone conversation that would warrant even being permitted to make the call, let alone return it. Then again, when I was that age, I hated talking on the phone, period. My parents had to make me get on the phone to thank family members for gifts ‘n’ such.

Now… if she’s sayin’ “Hey, we missed you in Sunday School,” that’s cool. We encourage kids to make those outreach calls.

Otherwise… they can talk when they see each other at school and whatnot. Or arrange a play date for a group of kids (both boys and girls) and include this little gal.

I figure kids really ought to have too much other stuff to do than sit and yak on the phone (computer, via text, whatever).

I like the suggestion of waiting till kids are 12 or 13. Sounds about right for emotional maturity.

By: Emily

Emily — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:50:20 +0000

My Son will be 7 in March and I’d have a breakdown if a girl called my house !

By: Kristie

Kristie — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:28:09 +0000

(Wait till their 12 – then all they do is TEXT the girl – about 400 times a day. At least he practices his spelling at the same time )

I say – Brandi’s “we’ll see” is perfect. Then play it by ear, to see how important it is to him in the next few days.

By: Gloria

Gloria — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:28:44 +0000

I read Brandi’s blog first and it seemed so low key that I didn’t feel compelled to post a reply. Posting the video doesn’t make the subject more controversial, but I would like to add my two cents now. I am a grandmother: just to give you an idea of my perspective. I don’t have all the answers but I do know that I don’t like the way the media/society encourages kids to become little adults from the clothes they wear to having boy/girlfriends and coed sleepovers. Kindergarten graduates are cute, I admit, but what do kids have to look forward to anymore? I think parents needs to be careful to shield their children from this kind of pressure/influence. At this point in their lives, I think Brandi probably has the best instincts about how to deal with things like this. When the boys are older, Pete will probably be to go-to. Nothing beats the parents working it out together.

By: Carol

Carol — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:56:55 +0000

Poor Girl….probably just checking on a school reading assignment or something. And she had such good phone manners. If the phone calling became a habit…you could deal with it then. Mother of three boys 8, 12, 14 and one girl 10 says.. call her back….it’s good manners! boys in general are not to interested in the phone anyway .. it will pass… hey just be grateful that your 12 year old didn’t just go over his text limit by 1,000 text!

By: Pete Wilson

Pete Wilson — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:00:56 +0000

@Celeste, don’t worry. Giantidiot, will climb out of his whole soon!

By: Shelby

Shelby — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:43:22 +0000

He should call her back. It is never to early to start learning how to have healthy relationships with people. all people. I think it sets up the idea that girls are something to be thought of in a dating or lustful manner when we “prevent” friendships to form. I have never ever liked the idea of people asking a small child, say 7, if they have a girlfriend or boyfriend because as Brandi says, they are to young to even be thinking in those terms. But my children have always played with both boys and girls and I think they have very healthy attitudes about people. My boys cook and my girls help cut down trees. They understand gender differences, but are not tied to the thinking that boys and girls can’t be friends. Of course as we get older and get married, there becomes more appropriate ways to have relationships with the opposite sex. I, for example, would not let my husband go to dinner and a movie with another woman and even at age 7, I would not allow opposite sex sleep overs, but phone calls and hanging out is peach keen with me. I am not a big fan of parenting out of fear. Unless you see some red flags as to why the two should not be friends, then I say it is perfectly healthy and fine for them to call one another. Having said that, parenting is hard and all of our kids are different. I may not always make the right choice with my kids, but I always make the one I believe in in their best interest and out of love and even if my kids disagree with me, they know I am truly doing what I believe is best. Brandi, especially as the mother, knows her son and knows how things “might” develop, so I might just trust her on this one. Shelby

By: Celeste

Celeste — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:36:28 +0000

I have looked at this several times today …at first I thought it was cute, then as I read all the posts of folks going wacko over this I typed and deleted and typed and deleted…so I am going to just say, you are great parents, but it a long ride, keep things in perspective and let the child be an example of the polite, well raised child that he is and call the little girl back. By the way, I looked for Giant Idiot’s words of wisdom but haven’t seen anything from him since the election…has he gone into mourning…..I miss him so!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 06:11:57 +0000

Golly, that’s a tough one! I can totally see both sides of it. My son’s best friend is a girl and we have allowed them to talk on the phone before, but it’s not something that happens very often. The great thing at the age of 7 is that it’s just innocent and sweet. Good luck, Pete and Brandi!