Be their dad, not their friend. You'll be rewarded for this as soon as they reach 20 to 21 years old. They will become to respect you and maybe even like you. You will have both a child and a friend.

Agreed.

I'm great at criticizing the lack of good parenting these days.
I see kids getting away with stuff I would have never even tried to get away with in my youth. And parents supporting young adult children living at home, unemployed & living off mom & dad! Don't even get me started.

Did I mention I have no kids of my own, so my opinions are probably worthless:o

Seriously, I was earning my way in the world in my early teens. WTH is up with kids these days, mooching off the 'rents into their mid 20's & beyond?

Enabling parents.

Actually it depends on how the kid is wired too. Some are wired for self-starting success.....some aren't.

For example:
One of my Brothers mooched off my parents living at home until he finally graduated college with a BA in Business Administration, at 32 years old. He never did get a job - out of college at 33, he married a gal that supports him now for 20+ years. Enabling wife. He's fat, a drunk, chews tobacco, has assaulted family members, and started having heart attacks in his late 40s. Begs his wife for beer money once a week - he has no job. Did I forget to mention that he's a loser too?

I've never understood the mind of an enabler....what is wrong with them?!

Everyone is an enabler.

But the only thing parents are wiring their kids to today is the monitor. It begins as soon as they are strapped into the baby seats in the middle seat of the mini van. Then, later at home, its dvd, WII, computers, cell phone texting, etc., ad naseum. :rolleyes:
Civilization is becoming more and more a bunch of lemmings.

How many of you remember the old Apple Mac commercial from 1984. Very prophetic, imo and remember it occurred 8 to 10 years before the internet and cell phones. Today we're educating and rasising a bunch of looney lemmings. "3Ls"
:rolleyes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhsWzJo2sN4

I'm sure that everyone one of the above poster's grandparents said the same about your parents...

"Kids don't want to go outside and play anymore, they just want to listen to those stupid shows on the radio box."
"Kids don't want to go outside and play anymore, they just want to watch those stupid shows on the TV box."
"Kids don't want to go outside and play anymore, they just want to play video games."

And don't get me started about what the parents said about the 60's generation.

To answer the original post question - YES, you are old. BTW, I'm a parent of two young boys, so I have a VALID opinion about child-raising.