The Shot heard 'round the Parenting World

Early in February, A father at the end of his rope with his teenage daughter, takes things into his own hands and makes a short video in response to his daughters FB post (to all her friends, family and acquaintances) lamenting how hard her life was and how unfair her parents are to make her do chores without paying her, saying, “I’m not your slave!”


You can see the original video posted on you tube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl1ujzRidmU

As you can imagine, this video has totally gone viral and there are cheers and jeers alike when the comments are coming down; most on the side of the dad. (just for the record, I commend him).

I realize this has some to do with teen angst and rebellion but it makes me think about parenting and the way problems should be nipped long before it gets to this point, you now, when the kids are much younger. Children need guidance and boundaries from the time they are old enough to understand them. Rules are a moral imperative and it’s the parents job to not only set them but explain why they exist. They should always, of course, be age appropriate, but there’s nothing wrong with teaching you kids that chores are a part of life and are there so everyone contributes to the family and home.

Trust me, you’re not taking away their play time or innocence by having rules and chores. You’re guiding your child to co-exist in the real world, learn responsibility and have empathy for the people/family around them. Children who don’t learn this are self centered, disrespectful and spoiled. It’s very difficult to introduce rules and chores later, down the line when they’re older if they’ve never had to do these things before….

Think it over, in the mean time, we’ll discuss kids earning things they want instead of mom and dad buying them everything on another post for another day.

And to the frustrated dad in the video; everyone who has ever shared oxygen with a teenager feels your pain. A+ for doing what you have to do to get their attention.