I had a long conversation today with a friend of mine who has three children just one step ahead of ours. We talked about expectations and boundaries for them and compared and contrasted to the ideals of other families. We both leaned heavy towards "conservative" and/or "traditional" ways of thinking in many cases...kind of old school in thought. Of course, the conversation began with youth sports, but it ventured into dating and other typical high school and middle school things.
My oldest is in 5th grade and I enjoy listening to parents talk about their journey in hopes that I'll be as ready as I can be for future situations. We've also had a few high school and college students live with us, so we've got a head start on some things.
We use modern and old school tactics to encourage our boys to do the right thing. The same is true when it comes to correcting behavior. We've had ups and downs like every family and we're still in the beginning stages of child rearing. With only one in double digits for age, we're all still pretty naive.
I'd like to hear what kind of expectations and boundaries you have for your children. For example, just based on our conversation starter today, how do you handle the youth sports scene? Do you expect your kid to finish the season no matter what (no quitting mid-season policy)? Do you have a plan for handling training and/or over-training, traveling, competitions, coaches, etc. or are you going with the flow?
How about when it comes to your children dating? Should there be age restrictions, social media/electronics monitoring, curfews, sleep overs, etc.?
What are some of the things that, no matter how hard I try, there's no way that I'll be prepared for what's to come? Based on your experiences, what advice do you have for parents?
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