Remember, part of they title of this blog is "father"....Welcome to my world!
Just to set the record straight, I love my children. I find that being a parent isn't quite what I thought it would be. Maybe it's because kids have more attitude than when I was growing up. Maybe it's because most of the kids I'm around don't seem to have the same respect for adults, other people, or themselves as they did when I was growing up. Or maybe it's because I thought I was the ideal child growing up, and reality states that that notion was impossible.
I'm not sure the latter really is true. You see, back in the day, if I mouthed off to my parents, I would have, 1.) gotten my mouth washed out with soap, 2.) gotten my behind whooped, or 3.) both 1 and 2. So, it was REALLY easy to stay in line. If you didn't,...well, you either liked soap, pain or was just plain stupid. You stepped outta line, you got popped back in line. simple. Today it's a different story.
I don't have to tell you how many times I've been in a store and some kid, probably the ripe ol' age of 6 or 7 is telling off their mother becuase they couldn't get a pack of gum or a cookie. Now, I would like to hope that when they got home, they get something that would have them standing instead of sitting for a week, but today that probably wouldn't have happened. When I was a kid, I would have gotten a beat down IN THE STORE.
I don't want you to think that I beat the crap out of my kids or anything. BUT I'm just frustrated at the lack of respect I see both in my house and on the street with kids today.
Parents, we need to take back out homes, and kids, you need to learn respect. Respect yourselves. That way you'll learn how to respect others.
Kids don't know how well they have it. And I tired of them complaining about what they don't have. "I don't have a laptop, or a cell phone, or a DS, a Wii, a PS3." GET A JOB By the time I was 8, I was washing dishes, cleaning my room, and vacuuming the rugs. All for an allowance, but my parents never had to remind me to do any of it. I did it out of respect....That and I wanted the cash! Do you know how many times I have to tell my boys just to put their clothes in their hampers? When I was their age I had the respect thing down, and I feared letting my parents down. I wanted to make sure they were pleased with me and what I was doing. But I also knew that if they were happy, then I would be rewarded.
Yeah, I'll admit I was very spoiled growing up. I got whatever I wanted pretty close to when I wanted it. BUT I earned it. I didn't expect everything to be handed to me. I did my chores, I helped aorund the house, did what I was told, and didn't mouth off to my folks. How many times did I have to tell my boys to watch their mouths today? One time each, which was two too many.
How do you teach respect to kids who don't care? As I type this right now, I am typing mainly so I don't go upstairs and start yelling. Sometimes it's not worth it, but it kills me thinking that they think they are getting away with something.
Crazy ain't it?