Email of the Day: Children Are Children and Adults Are Adults

These days, it seems like parents are worried about making their children upset rather than the other way around, and it’s even come to a point that parents appear to be actually afraid of their own children!

When I was a kid, the lines were clear: children were children and adults were adults. Sometimes my father would eat on the couch, and we kids would complain saying “why can he do it and we’re not allowed?” My mother would simply answer: “Different rules for Dad and for you kids,” and that was the end of the discussion.

One time, we rented a summer house with a pool. Just beyond the pool was a large opening to the bay, and it had no gate. My parents had us hold hands and walk up to four feet before the opening to the bay, and said that was as far as we could go. My father drew an imaginary red line on the ground with his finger and said we could not take even ONE step further than where we were right then, because it was too dangerous, and we could fall into the bay. They did NOT add “…and if you do go past the line, you’ll be punished,” or “if you obey us, we’ll give you an extra dollar, blah blah blah.” They just made the announcement. And all summer long, we swam in the pool with the opening to the bay a few feet away. Not one of us kids even put one TOE past the imaginary line my dad had drawn!

Hindel

Children Are Children and Adults Are Adults