What makes parents do it, experts say, are motives that range from sheer financial ability to "guilt giving" to make up for an absence of parental time or attention. And then there's simple convenience - a 16-year-old with his own car, for example, can haul younger siblings to soccer practice. Worse still, some parents give out of dread of what happens if they don't. "I've had parents tell me they're scared to come home from the store without a certain toy," said psychologist Buffone.
Scared? Scared?
A fellow parent once gave me his No. 1 Rule of Parenting, and we stick with it: "Never take shit from your kids."
Scared. Give me a break.
Thing is, if parents have already created this expectation in children old enough to cause that fear, they've already lost. It's too late to undo that.
And don't even get me started on the "guilt giving" thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment