I was just thinking...

Being the analyst that I am (my wife calls it being nosey) I often notice that there seems to be a lot of out of control kids these days. When I say Out of control, I don't necessarily mean bad, it's just that these kids are very determined not to listen to their parents.

I always cringe when I see this because I have flashbacks to my own childhood. My parents were old school. There was no bargaining and from day one they let it be known that their household was not a democracy...there would be no voting or consideration of opinions. In fact their motto was when they wanted my opinion...they would give it to me.

My parents, unlike many parents of today, were not afraid to be the bad guys! They had no problem at all with hurting my feelings if it would keep me alive and keep me from becoming a menace to society. During my adolescence, I didn't quite understand it, but now as an adult with children of my own I can clearly see it.

When it comes to dealing with my own children, I take a different approach. Like my parents before me, my household is not a democracy, but at the same time i constantly wok on making sure that my children know and understand that they can trust the decisions that I make. As much as it pains me sometimes I also admit when I am wrong. Unlike my parents I also try to be as transparent as I can be...instead of telling them them to be nice to people I let them observe and catch me in the act of doing it myself.

When my children were small I didn't negotiate with them I made sure they they clearly knew that there such things as boundaries and when they are crossed there are consequences. Now that they are teenagers I find that those early lessons have paid off.

I might just be old school but I think too many parents are taking advice from people who don't even have children, and they are trying too hard to be their friends. Here's my two cents mom and dad...they will have plenty of friends but you are the only parents they will have...so be the parent!


What Do You Think? Are today's parents push-overs?