Lately, it has been brought to my attention the importance of being parents in our boys’ lives and not trying to be their friends all the time. Being a parent is really hard at times though. It involves setting boundaries and enforcing them; saying "no" about 200 times more than saying yes. It’s about broadening your boy’s horizons, not trying to maximise his pleasure. One of my friend’s sons needs glasses. He does not want to wear them so they have resorted to bribery. The glasses will come with a brand new truck, chosen by the boy at the toy store – and then furtively smuggled to the optometrist in time for the collection of said spectacles. When I asked if the truck would be taken away if her son did not wear his glasses, she put her hand over her heart and said, “I can’t do that to my baby!” Since becoming a parent myself, I understand to well the meaning of tough love…
Of course we’d love nothing more than to make our little treasures continually happy. But how does saying “yes” and letting them do what they want to do work out in the long term. Not so well, I’d say.
Friendship is a reciprocal relationship between social peers. Our sons are not our social peers. You have the authority to limit or monitor your son’s exposure to television, the Internet and junk food. He does not have the right to do the same.
