Monday 20 January 2020

Are Parents Facing Up or Copping Out?

Parental Teachings Extinct?


I like to start something like this with a few declarations. 
  1. I am a baby boomer.
  2. I don't have kids but once upon a time I was one (still am!)
  3. I said sure, sure, sure when my parents said stuff like this. 
  4. Now I am saying it just the same
How many of you in my generation are tired of seeing nostalgic pictures and videos somebody Emailed you about old commercials, TV shows, cars, sayings, gadgets, games, and things you can't even recognize? They get a little boring so this is a different list.

This one is about teachings that were usually part of a parental responsibility to make sure their kids were going to grow into strong, respectable offspring who could face the world and make them proud grandparents. The list is random. Do today's parents even try?
  1. Don't use that kind of language in my presence. Today parents use it themselves. 
  2. No you can't have this or that until you get a summer job and buy it yourselves. We don't make as much as Jimmy's / Sally's parents.
  3. Just to throw in a positive, praising your kids' accomplishments is always a good idea. Hard to do today when the kids are so self-absorbed that you don't know what those accomplishments are, especially if they are some score on their phone or game box.
  4. No more TV. Outside and play! Good luck with that today. 
  5. Get off the phone. Now they all have their own VERY expensive ones.
  6. No sex. Well at least late high school. Now I suspect it happens in primary school. 
  7. You are not leaving this house looking like that. Today the problem is that the parents often look like "that". 
  8. Call your grandmother (aunt; uncle etc.) and thank them for that gift. Say what?
  9. Eat your dinner - all of it. We did. Does anyone now? Dinner is usually fast food for the whole family. 
  10. Turn down that music. OK this is a good thing. Now parents can't hear it but the kids' ears are damaged even more.
Many more could be in the list. I know that for years both parents have had to work so there is less time to be a positive influence. 

This is the modern day generation gap. The kids I see were born to parents who themselves were raised without hearing any of the above. These parents don't see any problem. If they do they are too busy worrying about how they are going to pay off their credit card or get another one.

The Brewster

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