I Am Not My Kids’ Friend

There is only one room in the house that is private. That’s the parents’ room. The kids’ rooms? I pay the bills, so anyone under my roof is subject to search and seizure ( I’ve read that somewhere ). Any kid of MINE who is still living under MY roof falls under that category. It had better be that way at your house, too. The things that kids nowadays have access to ( they can build a bomb by Googling how to do it ), the list of things-to-get-into is frightening. I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories in the news. There is no way in the world my kid is going to have a room full of guns, and I don’t know it. And when the kids become teenagers, they THINK that they have a RIGHT to some privacy. NOT! If you the parent believe that, then you are in for a BIG surprise. ‘I didn’t know that my kid was into that’? What? If it’s happening in MY house, I know. I will drop in their rooms and make what I call ‘periodic inspection’. That’s what a real parent is supposed to do. It keeps the kids mindful ( and respectful ) that privacy isn’t a right for them, UNTIL they leave the nest. I, and my brothers, would have never had the guts to bring a gun, or drugs, or anything else of that nature into my dad’s house. What? Are you crazy? And he didn’t even knock on your ( actually his ) room door ( he used to tell us that every room in HIS house belongs to HIM ). It definitely kept us in line. And I took this mentality when raising my own kids. Parents, you have to remember. You ARE NOT your kids’ friend. My wife gets on me for telling mine that, but I mean it. It is what it is. So quit trying to pacify them. ‘I don’t want them mad at me’. I’ve heard it before. Who cares if they are mad? Better to be mad at me for walking into your room than to get a call from the police that your child has gotten into some type of mess that you now have to clean up ( and in some cases, that you can’t ). Make sure they remember that as well. It will make you look really stupid if the authorities have to ask you ‘didn’t you know what your child was doing in YOUR house?’ I know how I would answer that one. Do you? But, that’s just my thoughts. What’s yours?

kcasrkev
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The Toy Box