Children

You need not travel far to have one of the biggest and best adventures of your life, having children. Whilst the first couple of years can be rather taxing, a bit of an ordeal, after two or so years things, for the most part, improve dramatically. Your offspring become far more interactive. They begin a transition from being a pain to useful little helpers. It remains joyous until a small period in their teens when hormones run wild. It is at that point when mind games and other new challenges arise. Those that take a different view, where they see nothing but difficulties at all ages, might want to see if a different approach to their parenting makes life easier. Those who don’t have children may have childish adults to contend with and can use the same handling techniques.

No parent gets everything right. Some do a lot better than others for sure. Most parents think they are doing things right. In fairness it is difficult to say for sure what is right in every situation. There will always be trade-offs. If we ask what is best, do we ask best for who. It might be better for the child but not better for the family as a whole.

A magnet will not pick up a wine glass, but will pick up iron, nickel, cobalt and gadolinium. Likewise, there are things that work well with children and things that do not. There are easier ways. There are less stressful ways. There are ways in which awkward children can be handled better. You will need to adapt rather than adopt best practices to suit your situation though.

In some countries, you move a car a few yards and get given a driving licence. In other places, you sit with an instructor for thirty hours or more and have significant instruction. When it comes to children, we don’t have to pass a test before we are allowed to bring a sperm in contact with an egg. If your children are not assets, but liabilities, are you not fishing around with that magnet hoping for it to stick to a piece of wood? Typically, we have a parenting style that is similar to that of our own parents. Occasionally we will make a change or two, sometimes shifting from one extreme to another.

There is really, only one true aim: to create independent offspring. Children than can manage on their own with less and less support from you. Pretty obvious given that humanity cannot continue otherwise. Those with physical and mental handicaps will always need support however, the more they can do for themselves the better. Better for them and you.