Tag Archive "parenting"

We’re responsible for shaping our youth

In many ways, we are all teenagers. Some of us grow out of it, and others don’t. Priestley is quite right when he observes that teens are a product of their environment. We planted the seeds, nurtured them and let them grow.

Actually, we parents did sign up for all of this!

Most of us parents “never signed up for this.” In fact, no one asked us to sign anything. And yet, we’re bound, legally, morally, emotionally and mentally, to our offspring and our never-ending responsibilities on the home front.

Parenting duties grow exponentially

Parenting, I find, is like trying to lasso a shooting star! I had a minor epiphany recently when I picked up my son from school. It wasn’t like the elation you feel when your toast lands butter side up. No, this was much deeper than that.

Parenting requires tilting your head a bit

“Be happy. Stop being who you are!” These words came not from a parent or counsellor. These were uttered by my 11-year-old daughter, who tried to get me out of a funk recently. She’s quite astute, even though she’s still struggling with pre-teen emotions and doesn’t really have a handle on grown-up issues.

Knowing we’ve done well as parents

How do we know that we’ve done our job well? As a parent, at what point do we take credit for our handiwork?

Parenting just gets more complicated

Children. Seemed like such a good idea we had three of them. What were we thinking?

Parents no longer masters in our castles

We had thought that growing up, becoming adults and assuming the responsiblity of home ownership came with certain perks. As kids, we all wanted to be “king of the castle.”

Leaving our future in the hands of babes

It’s easy for adults to criticize the current generation of 20-somethings. I may have been overheard as saying I’m a little reticent leaving our future in hands of these youngsters.