My wife and I have different parenting philosophies. That difference is best illustrated when our family’s in the living room watching a movie together. She sits up and says, “Does anybody want something to drink?” Everybody answers, “Yes!” My wife leaves and brings back a tray full of drinks. She's a very sweet, giving person. Me, on the other hand . . .
I sit up and utter those same words under the same circumstances. “Does anybody want something to drink?” And my little darlings both chime, “Yes, dad. We want something to drink.”
“Good,” I say. “While you’re in there, get something for me too.” And then I sit back and enjoy the movie.
Now this might sound like laziness. It might sound a bit Archie Bunkeresque. But it isn’t. Boys are crippled by women who confuse the words “mother” with “waitress or maid.” Fathers who dote on their little princesses end up with incompetent big princesses. Serve your kids once in a while to show that everyone plays each family role from time to time, but don’t let them expect to be waited on.
The kitchen is a place for parents and kids to gather and create. It’s a place to enable the children to take care of themselves. My children aren’t allowed to heft boiling water, to work excessively with sharp knives, or to work with hot oil. And I monitor the turning on and off of the stove. Other than that, the three of us do the work. No ticky; no ride.
The same goes for the rest of the house, cleaning is a group effort.
Copiwrite B. A. F.
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