It’s YOUR job:
To know the passwords for their e-mail accounts.
To check out their Facebook pages.
To be aware of what they are wearing to school.
To know who their friends are.
To set limits, have rules.
To teach them right from wrong.
To encourage them that kindness is not an option.
To set an example.
To create a safe place for them to fall.
To come down on them when they are out of line.
To know that they are not perfect, and neither are you.
To help them choose the right path.
To have a zero tolerance for bitcheness and bullies.
To encourage your child to be tolerant and inclusive of others.
To be a PARENT not a FRIEND.
Being a parent is a lifetime commitment, it doesn’t stop just because our little “angels” are capable of showering, dressing and feeding themselves. I would dare to say that when our babies reach their teens, the work has just begun. Open your eyes Mama’s of the Suburbs. Do you know what your teen is doing? Do your job, don’t just be a parent, be a good parent. One day, your children will thank you for it.
End of Rant.
Right on the money! I wish I could print these off and hand them out to a few people I know….
Oh I am with you!! So important to know who our kids friends are, who they are with, what they are wearing and what they are doing on line!
You’re right!! the work just begins when its time to parent teenagers.
Well said, too bad it all can’t fit on a bumper sticker! Then again “DO YOUR JOB!” should be sufficient!
Amen! Parents need to pay attention…be a part of their lives. Maybe we’d have less violence in the schools. We just experienced a school shooting in a neighboring city. Three highschool students killed. I wonder if someone would’ve been paying more attention to the shooter as he was growing up if this could’ve been avoided. Wake up parents!
Love it. I work with at-risk youth and their families, and the enabling and friend behaviors are out of control. It does them NO favors.
I hear you Stephanie.
We have a friend who teaches Kindergarten and she will meet with parents of potential new students about if they are ready for school or should wait a year. Often, she will advise the parents that the kiddo needs another year of maturity and frequently, the parents could care less and are only interested in dumping the child off at school for the day since it makes their lives easier.
The same “parents” will then proceed to violate every rule on your rant list as the kids get older.
With an 8m old who thinks I’m the bees knees right now and the most she can do is clap and wave, I’m going to be that mom who just says “AMEN SISTER!” without any knowledge of what a toddler or teenager is like. (There’s a reason I said all that :))
EXACTLY!
Just the other day, Murray (age 4) was angry at me and said, “You’re not my friend, anymore, Mama!” I answered with, “That’s okay. I’m your Mom, not your friend.” He didn’t quite know how to respond to that, and later, we talked about the difference.
Teen years are a ways off…sigh.
I’m a parent of a high functioning special needs child. Basically, she has the physical and social functions of a normal teenager but not the academics to back it. She just doesn’t understand things that normal teenagers do. It truly is a blessing to be a parent of this wonderful child!
However, the same advice you have encouraged still applies! I am one of those “mean”parents that does not believe that my child has to have a Facebook page! Some people may think I am taking the easy way out, but for any parent that has a child with a Facebook page and has taken it away, you know the pain!
I am very involved with my child on a daily basis. Her not having a phone right now and not having computer time, allows my family to remain close! Being a teenager is a rite of passage, having a Facebook is not. Ok, I’m done ranting myself now! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!
A-FRICKIN-MEN Steph! I may just print this out! <3
lot of truth in this one…and this list encompasses many of the things i have to teach parents when i go into a home
Never understand why mums with a choice go back to work when kids hit teens. I’m a full time working mum but I try to be ‘available’ more now than I ever was. They don’t need faces wiping but they need fruit pushing at them instead of chocolate, they need you to be ready to listen when they are prepared to talk, you need to be watching thieir Internet screen over their shoulder (openly and relaxed pass bys not spying or controlling) you need to be there and then live by the morals you want to instill in them. I think you are dam right.
Being a middle school teacher, I wish I could print this list out and give it to the parents of all my students. Too many parents these days don’t do any of what is so important about being a parent.
Great advice Stephanie!