They Makeup Their Own Minds

I have been driving myself crazy about my children’s behavior. Recently, I reflected back to when I was a child. I was not a bad child, but I do remember that if I wanted to do something, I would just go ahead and do it regardless of what my parents said. They could council me, teach me, discipline me, and if I wanted to listen, or thought their input was helpful or good, I would comply. But, I decided what I did. I used to think as a kid that you really cannot blame the parents when kids screw up, because kids make up their own minds in what they do. I definitely viewed myself as an individual capable of making my own decisions.  Then as a young adult, having made some good choices in my life, I thought that when kids screw up it’s largely the parents at fault for not disciplining and monitoring their children. If you raise your kids with the right morals and values, they will become virtuous people. Now that I am a little further into parenting, obviously it is both. When I was a kid and I was trying to determine whether to act badly or not, I did remember the lessons my parents taught me. The final decision was all my own, but the lessons advising me were from my parents, teachers and mentors. This is what I am trying to remember as I get stressed to tears over my kids not listening. They may be choosing to not to act right, but they are listening. Perhaps someday, they will choose to act virtuously.