So, I found this TED talk on using “Agile” principles in parenting through LifeHacker- easily one of my absolute must-visit-daily sites. Apparently, Agile is a corporate principle/management system (which I’ve never heard of before).

I hate listening to TED talks (or pretty much watching any videos) because I know I can skim through print much faster and pick out the most salient points. Luckily, TED talks generally have a nice little script at the bottom of each page. Yay!

So here is the video and script, and here are my quickie thoughts on Agile parenting (very informal here, began as a Facebook post and got a little long):

1. First: the example family– the mother stays at home with no career/work. I’m not making a value call on that. I work at home, and know the perks. But my point is how can the example family REALLY have so much “chaos” when the mother is home? I know that being at home (even working) eliminates 75% of the chaos for us. What’s going on there, example family?
2. So, my interpretation of Agile for families is a) You have family meetings b) the kids have regular chores and c) the kids take on a lot of responsibility for themselves (feed selves, etc). Sorry, these are not new concepts.
3. I don’t understand how there is “parental screaming” surrounding the morning prep-and-out-the-door process once you’re about a week into the school year? It’s all routine. there is NOTHING that is a surprise to the morning process after a week. Why is there screaming? I don’t get it.
4. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the bedrock part. Several times a week you will hear in our house “That’s not what a Tapia does.” Or “You are a Tapia, you are better than that.” I think weaving this family identity (including family values) into your kids’ heads from an early age will help them to form and keep a positive identity once they start going through that stage (which, I’ve noticed, is around 7th grade). 
5. The comments within the TED page tend to focus on the over-structure of Agile for families. Let me tell you this- we are NOT a super structured family. I think that the part where the morning routine needs lists-and-checkoffs is overkill and part of that issue in the comments. It’s really not needed. I love lists (ask my husband), but for routine things, they are not necessary.

That’s my first reading. I’ve not had a chance to go through the script deeply as I’m eager to move on to other (paid) tasks, but that’s the gist.

What about you? What’s your gut say about Agile Parenting?