Mayim Bialik: Could parenting style differences cause a divorce?
“Big Bang Theory” star Mayim Bialik announced last week that she and her husband of nine years were getting divorced and of course people began speculating about the split.
Bialik, who is famous for starring in “Blossom” when she was younger, is a huge proponent of attachment parenting and has written a book and has a blog about the parenting choice.
Attachment parenting promotes breastfeeding on demand, co-sleeping, and wearing babies in slings.
“Earlier this year, Bialik published a book on the subject called “Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way.”
“But according to the former “Blossom” star, the nontraditional parenting style did not play a part in her divorce.”
” ‘The hands-on style of parenting we practice played no role in the changes that led to this decision; relationships are complicated no matter what style of parenting you choose,’ Bialik wrote in a post on her parenting blog.”
We also practiced attachment parenting and I could see how if one parent didn’t want the children in bed with them or didn’t want the mom to nurse for 18 months or two years that could cause conflict. I don’t think it caused our marriage any strife but we do have disagreements as our kids are getting older about handling discipline or problems and I could see how that could drive a wedge between parents if not worked out.
Our biggest disagreement probably when they were younger was about sleep training. I would not let a child cry it out, and Michael was feeling pretty OK about that.
Do you agree or disagree with your spouse about your parenting style? Have there ever been problems because of differences in styles?
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103 comments Add your comment
M.E.
December 1st, 2012
1:14 pm
The only problem I would see with attachment parenting that would cause a divorce is competition between the father and the children for the mother’s attention, which would imply the father was not as committed to the parenting style as the mother.
Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik Officially Files for Divorce – Seattle Post Intelligencer | The Divorced Parents
December 1st, 2012
1:22 pm
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Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 1st, 2012
1:23 pm
…or that the sincere, conned sperm donor was unaware of his unholy wife’s lesbian agenda gained from her perverse upbringing in a G-dless culture?
Time will tell.
jan
December 1st, 2012
2:36 pm
I don’t think that parenting style can cause a divorce, but I do think that it can exacerbate underlying issues that the couple isn’t acknowledging. The parenting style becomes the “proxy” for the other issues.
That said, it is obvious that I completely failed both of my normal, well-adjusted offspring by my failure to attach to them by not treating them as parasitic growths that I needed to have surgically removed from my hip and teat.
Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik Officially Files for Divorce – Seattle Post Intelligencer | The Divorced Parents
December 1st, 2012
3:23 pm
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Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik Officially Files for Divorce – Seattle Post Intelligencer | The Divorced Parents
December 1st, 2012
4:26 pm
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Mayim Bialik of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ files for divorce – Examiner.com | The Divorced Parents
December 1st, 2012
8:34 pm
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Kiki
December 1st, 2012
9:04 pm
My children are 20 years apart I age, with different fathers. My first was raised old school style, i.e. six months breast feeding, own bed, etc. My now 5yr old breast fed two years, and still cosleeps with us. All 3 of my children have great confidence and self-esteem! My oldest are very successful as well. I feel that whatever works as a family unit is “to each their own.”
Mayim Bialik of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ files for divorce – Examiner.com | The Divorced Parents
December 2nd, 2012
7:43 am
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Mayim Bialik of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ files for divorce – Examiner.com | The Divorced Parents
December 2nd, 2012
8:42 am
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Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
9:10 am
@Kiki, How did changes in your view of the marital “partnership,” and the maturing of your self-image contribute to the changes in your parenting style?
Each child is a divine gift, but for broader edification from one whose 20-year-apart births demonstrate such power and grace, a little background on your parting with your first “family unit” offsprings’ “source” might be in order (death, disaffection?); and, would you describe either or both relationships as “Holy Matrimony” and why, or why not? If alive, is the first father a part of his children’s lives?
Asked in greatest respect and admiration, with full knowledge that “Each of us must work out his or her own salvation.”
TIA
itpdude
December 2nd, 2012
12:14 pm
Attachment Parenting = Wimpy Kids
atlmom
December 2nd, 2012
1:16 pm
will jones: godless culture? she’s Jewish. I believe her parents are israeli.
Ben
December 2nd, 2012
1:41 pm
I’m 43, a home-spooled attachment kid and I still share a bed with my folks. Life’s grand.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
2:40 pm
@atlmom – Having spent near 20 years in the “culture” referenced, as an American I believe it to be a violation of American Exceptionalism’s credal civil religion to teach one’s children that others are “sub-human” for having not been born of a similar genetic inheritance as they.
GardenDiva
December 2nd, 2012
2:54 pm
@Captain Obvious –
Children who are products of attachment parenting or some variation thereof tend to be quite independent as they mature. In many (maybe that should read “in most”) cultures, attachment parenting (cosleeping, breastfeeding and “babywearing”) is the norm not the exception. It IS natural, just as breastfeeding is natural even to what some consider an “extended age”. What is not natural is for a mother to constantly leave an infant in the care of others.
@mom2alex&max – Why would you want to be away from your baby more than two hours, especially when they are little?
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
3:25 pm
Whatever “baby raising” contributed to America’s foundational culture, whether that which blossomed in the notion of “Scot Free’s” bearing fruit in the Scottish Enlightenment, or manifest in the utopian ideals of whig Jeffersonianism’s individual sovereignty now so clearly under “terminal pressure” from the same societal “forces” we escaped to found America: what “other cultures’” norm is or was proved inadequate to the task.
We must rediscover what we did so well, and again raise our children to be giants, and not the slaves prevailing “culture” now requires.
One suspects the critical, and now largely “missing” key, is “Holy Matrimony”…literally “Holy.”
“Annuit Coeptis” is what our ancestors understood.
Why we’ve forgotten its true meaning is easy enough to understand…the obscene Fasces now affixed to the front wall of the U.S. House, and enforced embrace of its concomitant perversion could hardly be more obvious for the enlightened American or student of history and culture…or Child of G-d…as ought to be each member of America’s Electorate…by definition and by Our Deist Founding.
Ben
December 2nd, 2012
5:27 pm
There’s more then one way to raise a youngin’.
mom2alex&max
December 2nd, 2012
5:47 pm
@GardenDiva: because maybe I want to sleep for more than 2 hrs at a time? Because maybe I have to work? Because maybe I just want a break? Because it took TWO people to bring a baby into this world so why should I and I alone bear ALL the responsibility for wearing and feeding 24/7? Because maybe I want to be my own person? Because maybe I don’t define myself by being a mother? Because maybe I want to rest? Because maybe I want to get my hair and nails done?
Because maybe I don’t like having to be isolated every 2 hrs while I breastfeed a kid for 45 mins? I never could breastfeed “discreetly” and my babies to FOREVER to feed for some reason.
Ben
December 2nd, 2012
6:06 pm
Alex&Max need to be put in timeout.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
6:26 pm
Nice to see “mom2alex&max” also has “It” figured out.
Wonder what particular culture produces women who understand the truth such as she and “Mayhem?”
May their generations be blessed.
Ann
December 2nd, 2012
7:06 pm
@itpdude – Parents who practice attachment parenting and co-sleeping are a minority in the U.S. So, how do you explain all the spoiled, wimpy kids that most of the regular bloggers on this site complain about? Plenty of them were not parented with this style. The fact of the matter is there are highly confident, independent kids within that family style, as well as other parenting styles. The premise behind attachment parenting is that kids’ needs are being met in a safe way which allows them to explore. Most of the world outside of the U.S. practices co-sleeping and extended breastfeeding and other attachment parenting principles. Yet, it is the U.S. that has some of the highest incidence of diagnoses of behavioral issues, attention deficit, autism, delinquency, suicide, S.I.D.S., etc. Baby cribs were invented by companies to make a profit. To help sell cribs, U.S. parents were made to feel that co-sleeping was dangerous and wrong. S.I.D.S. deaths were discovered and increased during the decades when baby cribs began to be used more. S.I.D.S. deaths are virtually unknown in some countries. Japan has one of the highest rates of co-sleeping and exclusive breastfeeding and one of the lowest rates of infant mortality and S.I.D.S..
The children I know who have co-slept until age 6 or 7 are highly independent, well mannered and social. They are not clingy. The clingy child is usually one who is not getting those needs met. And, of those families, by age 5 or so, the child was sleeping in their own room at least half of the nights.
It is rare for parents to co-sleep past age 7, so comments about older children are far-fetched. Dads are often supportive of attachment parenting or co-sleeping. My spouse was a part of the decision and was very supportive. He sometimes comments about missing those snuggling times.
Co-sleep anonymous
December 2nd, 2012
7:13 pm
Kids,
When the time is right, run like heck! Your parent’s are fruitcakes.
P.S. Religion is for weak-minded lemmings.
Twinkletoes
December 2nd, 2012
7:19 pm
There were no arguments in my household about parenting styles; I did it all and he did little except bring home a paycheck. Yes, of course I appreciated the paycheck, but it sure would have been nice to be relieved of the role of heavy every now and then!
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
7:22 pm
When SIDS, and many other afflictions, is proven not be the result of the nanobacteria or nanoviruses heretofore essentially ignored by medical science, acquired through adulterous activity and introduced to the birth canal during gestation, science will have made a great advance. Until then (and always): “The curse causeless shall not come.”
“The sins of the parents are visited on the children,” and according to the Encyclopedia Brittannica “two-thirds of the earth’s cultures practice homosexual rites of passage.”
Let’s try to be the best Americans we can be, by G-d, and not allow the “foreigners do it better” culture mavens of the ruling false elite to turn us into the Third World country they feel we must be for their unjust spiraling concentration of wealth and false wars to be maintained.
Twinkletoes
December 2nd, 2012
7:24 pm
To Garden Diva. I don’t know about other mothers, but being away from my infant for more than 2 hours at least allowed me to get some sleep. Both my babies had colic and sleep was rare. If you haven’t been sleep deprived for a very long time, then you can’t possibly understand the desire to have more than 2 hours of quiet!!!
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
7:36 pm
Seemingly a paradox though a miracle of equal partnership: The father should always, and only, “be the heavy,” with the mother the constant source of unconditional love (even if the mom’s “calling the shots” from behind closed doors with dad): the two acting as a single entity in front of the children. When the mom’s the tough the dad is doing something very wrong, and disturbing, in his life.
George W. Bush’s turning out to be a homosexual psychopath (James Guckert/”Jeff Gannon”; 9/11, firecrackers in frogs, gas-covered cats afire) is no doubt the result of his father’s absence with Jennifer Fitzgerald or killing Kennedy, and his sicko mother’s acting as “the father.”
Co-sleep anonymous
December 2nd, 2012
7:39 pm
Will,
Your God is one sick pr:::::ick to punish children for their parent’s, as judged by you, moral failings.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
7:41 pm
Can’t have it both ways, “Twinkletoes.” Staying up with a colicky kid is not so “little.”
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
7:49 pm
The Creator is perfect, infinite, eternal, living, present, ineffable, invisible, holy and righteous. Deal with It.
Karma’s a b…h.
Co-sleep anonymous
December 2nd, 2012
7:54 pm
Will,
Nice dodge. Why does your creator punish innocent children?
Georgia
December 2nd, 2012
7:58 pm
Most parents end up leading their children deep into the woods, and then leaving them there. Most kids are resourceful enough to find their way back home a couple of times, but then they all wind up in a pie. Parenting is easy if you follow the advice in the book.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
8:08 pm
@Co-sleep anon, “Cloud Atlas,” both book and movie address your question quite well, I do believe.
We aren’t being “punished,” per se, ultimately not by any but our own past conduct, but each mother and father entering the miracle of union has the opportunity to receive it as divine, or not. Each wittingly or unwittingly chooses holiness or defilement.
Would that I knew not of what I speak…but LIfe, like Existence itself, is a miracle to be treasured, a divine Calculus with improvements available to be claimed, should lessons be learned, in each iteration, if not tomorrow.
mom2alex&max
December 2nd, 2012
8:10 pm
@co-sleep: don’t feed the troll.
Co-sleep anonymous
December 2nd, 2012
8:15 pm
Will,
I appreciate your response. However, it is beyond my comprehension. I’m a doubting Thomas. Proof is in the pudding. I need to taste the pudding.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
8:26 pm
Is the miracle of your child not proof? Each beat of your heart? Each breath?
btw “Mystical union” is available for confirmation if needed. Reading the “Adams-Jefferson Letters,” for instance, is like putting one’s hand in “the wallsocket of G-d,” nor should pre-Hindu Yoga’s “Samadhi” be dismissed. Seek and ye shall find. “Ineffable” is key. And what inveterate depressive rejects enthusiasm? Again…karma…but each child is, in fact, a miracle that only spiritual blind “damaged goods” cannot see.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
8:33 pm
“spiritually” blind damaged goods…obviously
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
8:49 pm
…also, haven’t read this, “Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife,”
Eben Alexander, but my own experience breaking my neck many years ago is consistent with what I’ve read of it: Life is a miracle, and only a single Deity, perfect, infinite, eternal (etc.) is responsible. It’s up to each of us to rediscover this truth, and having a mother and father, holy and righteous, who share this understanding is of course invaluable to the offspring they might parent, giving them a big “headstart” in life.
Co-sleep anonymous
December 2nd, 2012
8:50 pm
Will,
How ’bout the fart out my hindquarters, is this proof of the Deity?
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
9:02 pm
Yep. No poop…death ensues. LIfe really is incredible, as is the miracle of the physical form and plane.
Southerners are closer to G-d, Black and White, for having the “Claim it, and share the witness” “function.”
We truly are made in the divine image, but stunted people, “self-justified” perverts, and institutional psychopathy steers us from health and truth.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
9:03 pm
steer
Co-sleep anonymous
December 2nd, 2012
9:09 pm
Will,
Steers and queers make the World go round!
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
9:17 pm
Jehoshaphat ejected them from Jerusalem in the “Book of Kings.” They moved to Rome and now Bush, Rockefeller and Rothschild are teamed with them as has been Europe’s “Black Aristocracy” for thousands of years we escaped: to end slavery, with us since the Dawn of Time; emancipate women; and to make the People sovereign under the Creator alone, the state servant. The taboos and lies the rapist/pedophiles use to rule are psychotic and unhealthy for little children, for soldiers, women and families, killing innocents, Peace, Truth, Justice and Reason.
Co-sleep anonymous
December 2nd, 2012
9:22 pm
Will,
Your the cut and paste Medulla oblungata….
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
9:33 pm
I do believe once an intellectual appreciation is gained of the divine – the Cosmos, a ripe, perfect peach, a good and faithful dog, health, life, the Sun and Moon, the stars, thought, etc. – then one’s awareness and gratitude to the Deity, for it all, should, essentially, become autonomic.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
9:38 pm
…hence American Exceptionalism’s unique individual sovereignty.
Co-sleep anonymous
December 2nd, 2012
9:40 pm
Will,
Do you believe REM’s album-Automatic for the People, was/is a ode to the Cosmo Deity in he sky?
God
December 2nd, 2012
9:58 pm
@Will Jones
There’s an “O” in my name. My name is not G-dash-d. Please stop misspelling it. I find it offensive.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
Whether artist, poet, lover…or lunatic, seeing is believing. Holy Matrimony is when both are looking only at the Deity, and at each other. The children benefit accordingly.
Infinite is infinite. Eternal is eternal. Perfect is perfect.
Slade
December 2nd, 2012
10:13 pm
Willy,
I’m with ya’. when I saw Connie Davidson’s boobies in 1989-I saw Gawd!