Anyone took a parenting class lately?

happymomof2

New Member
I had to due to the trouble my son got into. I went last Sat. and the Sat. before. Each were 4 hours long. They did have some great ideas, but I almost wanted to tell them (I still might on the feedback sheet I fill out) o.k. that all sounds great but we live in a real world here.

You know the calm replies we are always suppose to have with our children. The patience of a saint. Things like that. It's all good in theory!

I don't like talking in front of or to strangers and of course we had to.

It was o.k. and I admire the moderators/facilitators that take there time to do it.

Honestly the only reason I signed up was to get out of paying 30 bucks a month for 6 months while my son is on probation. Some of the others in the room - most of them - that were far more talkative during the class probably got more out of it then I did.
 

klmno

Active Member
I haven't taken these but a little over a year ago my difficult child had to take anger management classes- parents were involved in the first four of eight- more like group therapy. Yes, I tought it was a nice concept, but not very realistic for curing a difficult child's rages. Kind of like expecting that "deep breath" to cure habitual serious panic attacks. I didn't get the impression the class was tailored for difficult child youth's but for adults who were looking for better ways to deal with conflict.
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
husband and I had to take one a couple of years ago when difficult child was involved with the courts.......again. We had already had twenty some hours of training through the agency we went through to get difficult child. Actually, by the time we finished, we were theraputic foster parents. In theory, these court ordered parenting classes are good but they are directed towards parents of kids with no or very "minor" disorders. They are basically worthless for difficult child's. husband and I were a bit resentful that we had to do it but tried to go into it with an open mind. None of the techniques we were "taught" have ever been or ever would be effective at all with difficult child.

Actually, I used to leave the classes angry at the instructor. Whenever she would call on me/husband or we would ask a question, we were basically told that we weren't using the technique right, weren't being consistant enough with it or some other kind of ^&*(. The classes were held at our local youth services bureau (who were very familiar with difficult child) and I think the staff finally pulled this "expert" aside and explained the situation to her. We were never called on again. I thought it was funny because during and after that time period, the staff asked me to view a dvd set with them on behavior modification. We all knew it would be useless on difficult child but they wanted my opinion on if it would be helpful for some of the other parents.

You may, once in awhile, get an idea for a new technique that you can adjust to fit your situation, but generally those basic classes through the courts? Waste of time. (JMHO)
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
We took STEP classes when Cory was at wilderness camp. They were interesting in a sort of experimental way. I found some of the other parents views and comments quite intriguing. I think Cory was one of the more truly disabled boys in the camp and most of the others simply had behavior problems or environmental problems versus chemical/medical disorders. This wilderness camp only believed in behavior mod and didnt give medications.

We listened and worked the program for whatever that period of time it took and of course, none of it was earth shatteringly life changing for him. Im sure there were a few things we learned that could have been useful because we sure arent perfect parents...lol.

I did hear about a class for parents of ADHD, bipolar and autistic kids that I would have loved to have participated in but it was almost two hours away from me and held weekly so I just couldnt get there. Now oddly enough they are going to be starting parenting classes locally for parents with kids like ours...lol. My case manager handed me the brochure with that listed...sigh...I asked her if I could go and be a resource...lmao!
 

mrscatinthehat

Seussical
Funny, the last time I signed up for a parenting class the instructor called to get information from all the parents attending. She wanted to know how to set up the class based on our kids and experiences. I ended up not taking the class because when she got done with my phone interview she wanted to know if I wanted to help teach it as I had more "knowledge" than she did. I was sorely disappointed as it had been reccommended to us. I haven't bothered to look into anything like it. I am however getting ready in Feb to take a transition conference. It is meant to help parents get their special needs kids ready for adulthood. I am curious to see how it works.

Beth
 
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