reparenting (verb) : 2. the act of telling one's parents that they sucked
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Apparently the need for reparenting isn’t new. Look at the fairy tales – Cinderella (her father remarries horrible woman who later mistreats his daughter and he doesn't notice), Hansel & Gretel (their father abandons them in the woods at direction of their mother), Rapunzel (her parents give her up to the witch next door out of fear) – all those kids had rough childhoods and were in need of reparenting.
But they don't ever get that, do they? They may seem to get the 'happily ever after' at the end of the story, but we don't know what happens after that. Do you think Cinderella spent much time after her wedding being nice to her mean stepmother? How long do you think that Hansel and Gretel went before they began to resent their father for what he did and that they gave him all their riches when they escaped and made their way home? Ever wonder whether Rapunzel searched for her birth parents? We don't get hear the end of those stories.
There are many proponents of reparenting but it does make you wonder whether it really works. I'm not sure why Lance Armstrong has embraced this, but I see that his website promotes reparenting as well as a 'Self Esteem Seekers Anonymous Program Manual.'
http://www.livestrong.com/article/14706-re-parenting/
Since I had incorrectly assumed that self-help books had cornered the self esteem market, look for my 'Reparenting Through Fairy Tales Self Help Manual' next summer! I'm hoping it will help defray the costs of my therapy over these past ten years.
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