by Bobby Coles

Created on: March 19, 2009   Last Updated: May 11, 2012

A good barometer of when a child's responsibility to his parents outweighs his or her responsibility to their own future would be right up until that child begins his or her own family. While under the care of your parents, you should always owe them your responsibility.

While you cannot ever let anything interfere with your major life choices, your decisions should be made in tandem, at least considering their input.

Once a person begins having children, and takes on a spouse, then that family should become the primary focus, although not just the sole focus. A child will always owe his or her parents all of their respect, time, patience, and love. Parents take on a different role once a child begins his or her own family. They are now able to sit back and offer forth sage advice, and spoil their grandchildren.

A child will always be responsible to his or her parents, but there will come a time when he or she needs to forage out on his own, taking his own initiatives, and grabbing a hold of his own future and throttling it back and forth.

From the moment I laid eyes on my daughters, I understood why my mother waited up all those evenings for me when I was a tad tardy returning from a night out. I have taken on responsibility for every aspect of my daughters' lives, and I hope that as they grow, they will assume some responsibility towards their mother and I.

They will always need to worry about their own future, and I sincerely hope that I never intrude on that fact. As I grow older, however, I hope that they continue to uphold the family values that are being instilled in them. They will always need to be responsible to their family, even after they begin their own families. The ties that bind do so forever.

The only time that these responsibilities will outweigh their own future concerns will be when their mother or I become ill to the point of needing around the clock care, or when death is pending.

Children need to gain their own independence, and leave the nest. They should always return to that nest on a regular basis, keeping the traditions alive. Blood is thicker than water, which means that their loyalties should always be to family first. They will have enough love in their heart to share, and therefore her mother and I should never be left without.

A child owes a debt of gratitude to his parents that can never be repaid, but there does come a time when he or she needs to take responsibility for his or her parents. A child should never purposely

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