Who's your daddy? Or your mommy?

Like most young women my age, I think about someday having a family, of having a husband, 1.5 children, and a house with a white picket fence. I wonder what kind of mother I’m going to be. Then I look at the mothers I know and see in the world. And often, I am horrified. 

Many parents I see now have very little control over their children and use very little discipline or ineffective methods. Their child will be acting loud and obnoxious, and they will simply ignore the child. That will not solve anything. Ever. Ignoring problems do not make them fix themselves or make them disappear. To some extent that does work, but when your child is disrupting an event or is being loud in a public setting and bothering others, then you should step up and discipline your child.  Many parents choose to not do anything. And people wonder why children nowadays are so disobedient. 

Another example I’ve seen, many times, is children not listening to their parents. I work teaching gymnastics to three and four year olds and it amazes me how unruly the children can be. One child I work with always refuses to leave, and her mother can do little to nothing about it. Her daughter will run around the gym, avoiding being caught and won’t listen to her mother’s calls. My own mother would never have tolerated that, and I would be in so much trouble. 

Often, I will also see overbearing parents. This both annoys and disappoints me. Maybe your child just wants to have fun. There is no need to get your child involved in five different activities when they are only five. There is also no need to force your dreams and aspirations onto your child. The television show “Toddlers & Tiaras” is an example of this. When watching that show, often times you’ll hear the child complain about not wanting to participate and almost immediately the parent will chirp in saying something like, "Think about how much you want this!” Is that really what your child wants? 

I know that now it is a bad thing to beat your children. I agree with this. However, that doesn’t mean that some methods used during the time when it was acceptable should also be taboo. I have a younger cousin who is around the age of five. He is quite unruly and often doesn’t listen very well. His parents do discipline him; however, they use a rather ineffective method. They have chosen to use time-outs as both punishments and (often empty) threats. They also have not realized that for their child, (as each child is different,) this does not work. I once heard a story from my grandmother when she tried to discipline him a different way. He was reaching for something that she had repeatedly told him not to touch, and she swatted at his hand. This in no way would physically harm the boy, and would clearly get the message across. However, he bursts into tears. It was ridiculous. Babying children and letting them get away with things they are not supposed to do is ridiculous. 

In conclusion, I have decided that my children will be angels. They don’t get a choice in the matter.