Every Bad Choice Your Child Survives Is A Gift From the Future
Many parents do everything they can to prevent their children from making bad choices. Some call this “snow plow” parenting, as the parent attempts to plow all the problems out of a child’s way. Others call this “helicopter parenting”, as the parent constantly hovers over a child making all of the choices for them. I like to call this “take it or else” parenting, as the parent forces their kids to take their advice or face consequences.
What you call it doesn’t much matter. All three approaches are still a mistake. While it’s true that all parents fear that a child may make a bad choice that will ruin their life, the truth is holding on to this fear does more harm than good. It’s one thing to raise a kid who is safe and secure from the world around them. It’s another thing to raise a kid who is ready to take on the world as an independent and functional adult.
A parent’s responsibility is to prepare their children for a world full of bad choices and problems. What’s more, the only way to do that is to allow a child to make bad choices and deal with problems when they’re young. This is why every bad choice your child survives is a gift from the future. It’s in these bad choices where the lessons that prepare them for adulthood sink in.
Children who rarely experience bouncing back from bad choices, failure, loss, ridicule, embarrassment, or even bullying while young are in for a rude awakening as adults. That is why parents would be wise to accept these gifts, and be grateful for each lesson their child gets.