Parenting Information - Regarding Two Types of Parents

Parenting is the most contradictory and confusing subject of discussion. Each parent has their own opinion about it. Yet, there are clearly two groups of parents, which differ by their attitude toward children.

A first type of parents find children interesting people. They never get bored with children. When giving an apple to a child such parents would enjoy watching the child eat the apple. So they don't expect children to be perfect, because they admit that they are not perfect too. They can make mistakes, so they let children do their mistakes as well. They don't try to convince anyone that they are always right. Therefore they don't have to fight with children to prove their point of view. They accept children as equal.

Another type of parents look at children as objects for teaching. When giving an apple to a child such parents would watch to make sure the child says thank you. If the child forgot about being grateful because he or she simply enjoyed eating the apple those parents would always remind the child, no matter if the reminding itself may be tactless. They think that their major role in parenting is to give the child an approval or disapproval of everything the child does. When meeting a school boy they only can ask "How are your grades?" (What else is there to talk about?) They are concerned about their righteousness and are defensive when a child addresses the parents' weaknesses. They perceive child's words as an attack to their authority and a power struggle ensues. They are afraid of losing control over the child and eventually this leads to fear of the child.

Parents of the first type, on the other hand, are not afraid of children, because there is no reason for power struggles. They don't blame children. They also don't blame anybody else for their life's misfortunes; they are responsible for their own lives. However, they don't expect children to be responsible for children's lives, because children are still children. And children eventually learn about responsibility from these parents.