Dialogue 3 – Raising teenagers

“Why do loving children, whom you held in your arms, kissed their hurts and helped them ride their bikes, suddenly become someone you loath.  Someone you don’t recognize as your loving daughter,” she asked?

“That’s a question parents have been asking since they first realized where children come from,” he replied.  “But, I think I have an answer.”

“You always seem to find something to say,” she said.  “Go ahead, enlighten me.”

“You only have about 10 or 11 years to teach your children what you consider the right way to live their lives., to give them a moral code.  By then, they are under the influence of whatever peer group they’ve joined.   After that you have almost no control over them.

“Therefore, you have to pick their friends for them as early as possible.”

“That’s it,” she asked.   “That’s all I can do.”

“Your only role as a parent of a teenager is to keep them in school, keep them out of jail and stop them from getting pregnant.  Nothing else is important – – not a tattoo, not the color of their hair, not the clothing they wear.

“Stick to the important goals and let every thing else slide.  If you let the little stuff go, they’ll listen to you on the big stuff,” he said.

“Do you have any kids?” she asked.

“No,” he said.  “Never had the honor.”