Take a new look at the parent-kid relationship and realize you are not friends. The relationship you have is multifaceted and important. Parents and kids are lot of things, but they are not friends.
Over the next several weeks, we will take a new look at ways of looking at the parent/child relationship. In upcoming weeks we will look at:
- parents as stewards
- raising children to leave and cleave
- what will your kids’ shrink say later
This article is all about the fact that you are not your children’s friend, you are a parent, so act like it.
Parenting techniques, like fashions, seem to flow in circles.
Ideas that were once radical and cutting-edge become dated and fall out of use, only to be seen as new again years later. In my recent travels, I have encountered some parents who tell me I should treat my children as equals and as friends. I don’t understand how that idea works. My children range in age from 14 to 25. I do not have any friends in that age range. I have a husband, children, a mortgage, bills, and a business, and I am looking for more income. Outside of being related, nothing would lead me to be friends with people I would meet in this age range.
Beyond all that, I am the parent to my children. With the role of a parent comes a whole different set of goals and responsibilities. When children are poorly behaved and get hooked on drugs, everyone wants to know where the parents are. No one says, “What kind of friends raised those kids?” No one, indeed. Instead, people rightfully wonder what the parents were doing when the children were running around using drugs.
As a parent, my job is to help my children go from childhood to adulthood. I have to get them there with morals, values, talents, and skills that will allow them to stand on their own in the world. Additionally, I must make sure they will be successful and productive. The following are among the differences in the roles and characteristics of parent and friend:
Friends
- status is equal between participants
- no party is responsible for the other
- no party has an absolute veto over the actions of the other
Parent/Child Relationship
- there is an imbalance of power, with the parent being in the power position
- the parent is legally and morally responsible for the child
- the parent has absolute veto power over the actions of the child
To read more about love and family, check out the following:
A Family Game – You can find serenity in learning that it can be fun to create a family game. Click here to read more.
and
Best Pick-Up Line Ever and The Communist Manifesto
I never would have thought I would hear the best pick-up line ever while reading the “Communist Manifesto.” Click here to read more.
Also, check out our Confidence Tip of the Day YouTube channel for hundreds of videos on creating the confidence you need to succeed.
The role of a parent is a major and important one. It is interesting because it is one of the few jobs you have almost no qualifications beyond biology to get. That does not change the fact that the role of a parent is one of the most important roles a person ever plays. The relationship between parent and child is of crucial importance in each home and in the world at large. So the question for you on this serene day is, how do you describe your relationship with your children?
