Does This Make Me a Bad Dad? Some People Think So
I’ve been frowned at a lot over the years…
I think there are probably as many parenting styles as there are children out there.
Some people prefer the over-disciplinarian route, ensuring their kids are as obedient as the parent believes they should be. Of course, behind closed doors and away from the prying eyes of those parents, most of the time those same children are doing whatever comes to their minds.
They’ve just learned how to hide it.
That was the case for me. As a youth, my parents were excessively strict, with a whiskey-drunk and abusive father leading a narcissist for a mother down the path of destruction. I got in a lot of trouble, and put myself into situations I am surprised I survived, because I was trying to get a handle on some sense of self I could get behind.
Of course, others are far more lenient, allowing their children much leeway and freedom to become who they would like to be, with little influence from the parent.
Helicopter parenting, uninvolved parenting, free-range, authoritarian… so many ways to raise kids, and no one can agree on what’s best.
So, given my own background, how did I manage to raise mine?
