Less Effective Parenting Styles

Lori and I are not parents as of yet; however, we do have opportunities often to observe how parents care for their children. In our jobs, we are exposed to a wide spectrum of parenting competency. Recently, we had some family visit us for the weekend and Lori's brother demonstrated some parenting styles that we have discussed and have determined to be less effective. See the pictures below.

Here is Nate's daughter Ellie exploring the cliffs around Shoshone Falls. We told him she could possibly hurt herself, his only remark was "I'm hungry, when are we going to eat?"


So then we are over at the bridge and the little guy crawls up over the safety wall. When we pointed it out to him that it didn't seem safe that she was that close to the canyon, he only replied, "ya whatever but let me explain to you the engineering principles that go into throwing together a bridge like that."
So next thing we know.......

You can't see her very well, but that's little Ellie shortly after her first base jump off the bridge. She cried when he tossed her, but he said she'd thank him for the killer rush. Surprisingly, she stuck the landing like a pro.
So....I know it's not our place to say what's the best way to raise a child but when the kids come we're going to implement the "what wouldn't Nate do approach." In his own defense, I think he may have not shown such poor judgment if his wife had come for the weekend so we can hope she doesn't trust him with his daughter often.
Anybody who wants to comment about his parenting can call him directly. His name is Nate Porter and is in the phonebook in Tremonton, Utah.