Mama Manifesto: Torture Techniques: A Parenting Parallel

I watched a recent documentary on psychological torture techniques in political prisons. I won't go into my feelings on that, but I will share a curious recognition of many of the things these prisoners were subjected to. Any of these sound familiar?

sleep deprivation - not allowing the subject to sleep

noise flooding - subjecting prisoners to loud, unrelenting high-pitched noises, particularly while sleeping

repeated questioning -asking the subject the same questions, over and over again

music torture - a form of torture that involves playing annoying music incessantly

hygiene - subject is prevented from showering on a regular basis

isolation - removing subject from contact with peers
humiliation - placing subjects in close contact with urine and fecal matter

systematic reduction of choice - forcing subjects to complete the same arbitrary tasks over and over again

I will let you draw your own parallels here. Seems my mind is not working like it should . . .

-kh

Kristen

married, mom of 4 : desperately trying to avoid buying a minivan : has a goal to fix her own lunch instead of grazing off her children : resident expert on psychology and sarcasm, regularly fantasizes about sleeping in, blogs at Rage Against the Minivan.

Ali

married, mom of 2 : has googled “developmental milestones” more times than she can count : loves all things truly healthy and organic : resident expert on creativity and healthy living : regularly fantasizes about her kids sharing, blogs at Leaning In.

Heather M.

married, mom of 3 : expecting a baby boy, a fan of organic-living, mess-making, and cookie-baking, blogs at Cookie Mondays

Julie

married, mom of 3 : wife to a drummer-turned-youth pastor, resident expert on crafty goodness, blogs at Joy's Hope.

Heather K.

married, mom of two : has been known to rap to get the kids to do what she wants : over-thinks and second-guesses far too often : working on improving her skills in all areas of “playing cars”, blogs at The Extraordinary Ordinary.

Cari

married, mom of 2 busy boys, professional chef-turned-teacher-turned mom, avid cook, recipe collector, food blogger, blogs at Can I Get the Recipe?

Jessi married, mom of 3, a tasky homebody pastor's wife who likes routine, candles, and strategizing naptimes. Jessi blogs at naptime diaries.

Grace

married, mom of 2. jane of all trades, master of none: constantly battling her pack-rat tendencies: lover of pretty stationary, nap time, and playing hostess: born a New Yorker, grew up a Texan, currently masquerading as a California girl : always gets what she wants but never the way she expects it, blogs at Formerly Gracie

Sharon

married, mom of 3 exuberant children ages 7, 8 and 9; struggling to balance work as a writer with the kids’ demanding schedules; on a mission to get the kids to eat healthy, adventurous “grown up” food; resident expert in pre-‘tween backtalk; blogs at Whatever Things Are True and Be Bold or Go Home .

Michele

married, mom of 2 (one a missionary, the other a hostage negotiator), co-founder of Radiate PR (rad PR skilz used for building harmonious family brand - oh, and for consumer-tech clients too), resident expert on good kid reads, blogs at ReadOutLoud.

Meleesa

resident stylist and beauty expert : has a "costa rican" peaceful vibe flowing through her veins, runs her own salon and spa and creates natural beauty products and candles, she might be speaking English but she thinks in Spanish, blogs at Meleesa, the salon.

Elizabeth

married, three children, former pastry chef who can bake a cake, pretend to love boy sports and be a fierce advocate for her severely disabled child all at once; loves to steal away to daytime movies whenever she can and reads voraciously into the night; blogs regularly at a moon, worn as if it had been a shell.

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Torture Techniques: A Parenting Parallel

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