RULE 86
Everything comes with strings
One of the most essential things your children have to learn in life is that rights and responsibilities are inextricably linked. And it’s your job to teach them. Or should I say your responsibility?
For example, your children can demand the right to be treated like adults. But they need to understand that the right comes with a responsibility to behave like adults. If they duck the responsibility, they lose the right.
Once your children become teenagers this principle can really kick in. For every right they demand (and, boy, do teenagers like demanding rights), you can point out to them the responsibility that goes with it. I have friends who extend this to pocket money. Their kids have the right to a ...
Get The Rules of Parenting, 3rd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
