I agree with the "our house, our rules" to a certain extent. However, children are going to be corrected by people other than their own parents throughout their lives. I told my children that - in most circumstances - they needed to obey their teachers and other authorities who corrected them. I see too many unruly children that grow up to be incorrigible teens and irresponsible adults. Parents must learn to correct / discipline their children when they are young - otherwise society will correct them later in ways that may be even less pleasant.
MSOctober 27, 2017
I agree with the article and with a slight variation I agree with SD..."MY house, MY rules."
MSOctober 27, 2017
I am a fairly consistent reader of your articles and I have to say this may be one of the first times I have disagreed with your advice. I grew up in a large extended family that had frequent if not daily interaction. Most of the adults felt free to discipline anyone else's children whenever they felt like it. For me and my siblings this created a great deal of hard feelings we continue to struggle with as adults. Almost always these adults were unfair or biased in the way they handled the correction, especially if their own child was involved. Just because you don't observe hard feelings doesn't mean they don't exist. There were a few adults who felt it was only their responsibility to love their nieces and nephews and let the parents be responsible for the discipline and these relatives always had the best relationships with the younger generation. Children get plenty of opportunities to deal with people outside the family where they can learn that aspect of socialization. In the extended family, boundaries are especially important to maintain good relationships and if you don't have good relationships, families lose their main value and purpose.
Comments | Return to Story
HalOctober 31, 2017
I agree with the "our house, our rules" to a certain extent. However, children are going to be corrected by people other than their own parents throughout their lives. I told my children that - in most circumstances - they needed to obey their teachers and other authorities who corrected them. I see too many unruly children that grow up to be incorrigible teens and irresponsible adults. Parents must learn to correct / discipline their children when they are young - otherwise society will correct them later in ways that may be even less pleasant.
MSOctober 27, 2017
I agree with the article and with a slight variation I agree with SD..."MY house, MY rules."
MSOctober 27, 2017
I am a fairly consistent reader of your articles and I have to say this may be one of the first times I have disagreed with your advice. I grew up in a large extended family that had frequent if not daily interaction. Most of the adults felt free to discipline anyone else's children whenever they felt like it. For me and my siblings this created a great deal of hard feelings we continue to struggle with as adults. Almost always these adults were unfair or biased in the way they handled the correction, especially if their own child was involved. Just because you don't observe hard feelings doesn't mean they don't exist. There were a few adults who felt it was only their responsibility to love their nieces and nephews and let the parents be responsible for the discipline and these relatives always had the best relationships with the younger generation. Children get plenty of opportunities to deal with people outside the family where they can learn that aspect of socialization. In the extended family, boundaries are especially important to maintain good relationships and if you don't have good relationships, families lose their main value and purpose.
SDOctober 27, 2017
Our rule, summed up, is... Our House, Our Rules.
ADD A COMMENT