A Note on Parenting
From When Barney told Andy he should just let Opie “decide for himself” how he wanted to live… Andy had these words of wisdom.
“No, I’m afraid it don’t work that way. You can’t let a young’n decide for himself. He’ll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it. Then, when he finds out there’s a hook in it, it’s too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter that it’s hard to convince ‘em that other things might be better in the long run. All a parent can do is say ‘wait’ and ‘trust me’ and try to keep temptation away.”
Somehow… we have lost this basic truth. Too many people are more worried about being their child’s friend, than in being a parent.
FWIW, here’s how I negotiated this conundrum as a father with my two kids: I would always let the kid experience the consequences of his own decisions, as long as the possible results weren’t horrific. If the kid wanted to play in traffic, the answer was no. If the worst was a potential scraped knee, I’d say, “If you think that’s a good idea, go for it.”
All things equal, I wanted to be liked, but my advice: Never make a parental decision at the expense of doing your duty.
