Last night hubby and I went to see Nigel Latta’s presentation, entitled “Revenge of the Teens.” In a truly ‘teacher-ish’ way I am going to do a PMI (Positive, Negative and Interesting points).I could take the time to then structure these points into an essay but I’ve decided to be a bit more ‘Latta- ish’ and simply say, “I can’t be f****d.” J:
Positives
The guy is hilarious, the closest thing New Zealand has to Billy Connolly. The show was full of funny anecdotes that had the audience in fits of laughter.It wouldn’t be fair to tell any of them here – you’ll have to go to the show for those.
I left feeling more confident about my own parenting skills and reassured that the problems of teenagers are universal – as Nigel said, they literally aren’t right in the head.It has to be healthy for parents to get together and have a good old laugh about the trials and tribulations of the job.
The average Kiwi (especially blokes) can relate to him because he
a) is funny
b) isn’t preachy
c) says ‘fuck’ a lot
d) isn’t politically correct
e) doesn’t take himself too seriously.
If you struggle to drag your other half along to parenting seminars, this is one he will actually enjoy. Twist his arm or trick him into attending and you'll have a convert!
He speaks well – Nigel has a clear voice, good pace and a relaxed manner that makes for easy listening.The show also made great use of visuals projected onto big screens.
$15 a ticket was pretty cheap considering Nigel’s now a celebrity in NZ.After watching Nigel on tele in Beyond the Darklands and The Politically Incorrect Parenting Show it was kind of cool to see him in the flesh, and he looked exactly like he does on the box.I can see an opening there for a big corporate sponsor of his presentations (if Nigel’s ‘door locks n bolts’ business doesn’t flourish J) , although it is appealing that he does speak without any agenda.
It was a great excuse to get a night out from the kids!
Negatives
I didn’t take away a lot of new practical, specific strategies to apply in my own parenting.Possibly too much time was taken up with anecdotes and funny descriptions of teenage behaviour at the expense of actual parenting tips.While the former were very entertaining, I found it difficult to come up with much when asked afterwards: “What things will you do differently as a consequence of attending?” Although to be fair this was part of his message – to not stress and that getting through the teenage years does rely a bit on time, humour and tolerance.I think too he is more about reassuring us that it is a good idea to use the trialled and true methods of good parenting (boundaries, punishment, relationship etc) as opposed to teaching the latest new approach.
The seating at the Marlborough Convention Centre was crowded and we were in the back row.I would have far preferred to watch this in an auditorium type set up where the seat heights were staggered so everyone could see.I couldn’t actually see Nigel so felt I might as well have been listening to a podcast.
2 hours 15 minutes was a bit on the long side ...although this wasn’t helped by the fact that I came straight from our kids’ school production and am still suffering the side effects of a dislocated tailbone as a result of childbirth...ahh the pain of parenthood!
Interesting
The room was packed – this guy is really popular, although a lot of what he speaks of is just common sense parenting.He makes no secret that his message is one of simplifying parenting and not sweating the small stuff.It seems a shame that we have reached the point of really needing this – that parents in New Zealand have lost confidence in themselves and become overly stressed about their role.
Nigel is a mainlander (born in Oamaru, now in Dunedin) who wasted nine months of his life arguing with his brother over drying the dish rack.He always puts the toaster away for his wife but once binned the end of his son’s finger.He has a book called ‘The Little Prick’ as part of his Civil Emergency Kit.Oh, and he adores Sue Bradford and Coronation St!
Comments
Chaucey
03/06/2010 2:09pm
I'm off to see his "the first decade" show next week. I'm looking forward to it, especially as it is a free event :-)
Reply
Jacinda
04/06/2010 10:07am
How come you get it free...that's not fair, whaaaaa!
RSS Feed