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what is it with parents today!
what i am having trouble with is the idea that i should be friends with my children, now don't get me wrong i love my 2 nearly teenagers but i have nothing in common with them, i wouldn't seek them out for friendship if i was to meet them in some commonplace, no they would bore the pants off me! they are interested in teen stuff, have mad music choices, think shooting the police on play station is "cool" and cooking is fun and not a necessity! why do i need to be friends with my kids - surely what i need to be is a parent, a role model someone who explains life choices and leads by example. no i do not want to go outside and kick a football, swim with 600 million other kids in the communal swimming pool rather than sit by the side line reading my grown up book and drinking coffee and shouting the odd encouragement from the side lines.
my job is too produce 2 worthwhile intelligent individuals that can learn by my life literature, something that has taken me nearly 40 years to acquire and not 5 minutes to obtain as is the expectation of all kids today.
my job is to encourage good behavior and discipline bad, to instill morals and the understanding of right and wrong. i cannot do this if i have to be their friend! i would never tell my grown up friends what to do or how to behave, i would never ground them because they told me to butt out. no i don't want to be their friend i want to be their parent and for that i should be proud, not be made to feel guilty and like a bad parent! am i alone or do other grown ups feel the same?

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