The Rules of Parenting, 3rd Edition

RULE 79

Remember Newton’s Third Law

The thing is, you love your kids desperately. So it’s incredibly hard to watch them making mistakes that you think will come back to bite them later on. Over the years you’ve got used to letting them make small mistakes – helping themselves to too much pudding, or riding their bike too fast downhill. As time goes on, the mistakes get bigger.

So now you have to watch them drink too much at their mate’s party, or wear clothes that are far too low-cut (or high-cut). Maybe you even have to stand back when they decide to leave school at 16, when you’d hoped they go to university, or jack in a brilliant Saturday job because it’s too much effort getting up in the morning. It’s a much bigger deal than letting your ...