Well guess what? The feeling is probably mutual.
I remember when my kids were little. Like toddler and baby little. Before they started school and were influenced by the real world. It was easy to be naive about what I would and wouldn’t expose them too.
No fast food.
Organics only.
No bleaches of any kind in the laundry.
No TV.
Classical music.
Choice based parenting with lots of positive reinforcement
Structured schedules. Consistency.
No swearing in front of the kids.
Then I had kid number two. And most of this was a distant memory.
A lot of parenting is good intention tempered with reality. The reality is what keeps us from being fanatics. Embrace the reality – because nothing I mention above, is going to hurt anyone in moderation. But trying to be militant about excluding if from your life will cause disproportionate amounts of stress.
So when I learn that people have decided they can no longer be around my family because I am not militant enough with my expectations of my kids, I can’t help but think that the feeling is mutual. Because if you are going to bring unrealistic expectations into my life, then we can’t be friends.
