I have a theory on the proverbial “problem with kids today”, the gist being that parents have this desire to be “friends” with their kids instead of flexing the parental muscle when necessary. Not taking your role as a parent (which encompasses everything from advisor to counselor to prison guard) seriously can have detrimental results on a child.
Look, I don’t think I’m Supermom or anything. My kids eat McDonald’s for dinner at least once a week and watch way too much television and grumble about doing chores and have an urge to procrastinate (can’t imagine where they got that one from) and so on and so forth.
This guy I know started dating a woman with two daughters around the same age as my eldest. Sexually active from a young age, dabbling in drugs, physically abusive toward their mother, juvenile court dates, rude, abrasive, the whole package.
He was over one day helping move furniture, and my daughter spent hours assisting him, then sat down and chilled with us for awhile. Politely. Respectfully.
Then asked to be excused to go practice her bassoon (no band camp comments, please).
With tears in his eyes, this guy asked me why my sixteen-year-old was so well-behaved when his girlfriend’s girls were like something out of a bad movie.
“Because I’m like a prison guard,” I replied. I was serious, too.
I know where that kid is at all times and who she’s with. I’m the weird mother that calls the house if she’s at a party to make sure adult …