PG Required - Kids Want Parents - They Have Friends

Many parents fail at parenting because they believe they are to be their child’s best friend.  Wrong.  You are a parent.  You often times have to make tough decisions for your child that go against what he wants.  He may not understand at the moment, but one day he will understand that you made decisions the best way you knew how to protect him and help him be the best person he could grow up to be.

Some of the most messed up and angry adults or teens I have counseled are the result of parents forfeiting their role as parents to try and be their kids best friend.  Kids want parents.  They have friends.

Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.  Prov 29:17

In Susan B. McConnell’s book Raising Great Kids In a Tough World she writes a piece titled “I Loved You Enough”. 

• I loved you enough to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.
• I loved you enough to insist that you save your money and buy things for yourself even though I could afford to buy them for you.
• I loved you enough to make you pay for the bubble gum you had taken and tell the clerk, “I stole this yesterday and want to pay for it.”
• I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.
• I love you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes.
• I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.
• But most of all, I loved you enough to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it.
• Those are the most difficult battles of all.  I’m glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.  And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.