Parents: Your kids need guidance, not a straight jacket.

5th weekend in a row with him making me cram.
My cigarette smoking has gone through the roof...
and I'm out of whiskey.

I've never been one to hover over my children.

And, I've never been one to make a huge fuss at school when I think my kids were being treated unfairly.  I've always believed that not all things in life are fair and that you have to take the good with the bad.  

In short when the situation arises (as situations invariably do) - Sometimes you  have to suck it up, get over it and move on.  

I like to instill those ideals in my daughters so that they are prepared for the real world when they grown up and tackle shit on their own.

Not all parents feel that way.  Many parents with school-age children feel the incessant need to be all up in their kids’ lives… pushing them around in sports or making them ask for extra credit work to their grades up from a “B” to an “A”. When not concerning themselves with the immediate requirements of driving the poor kid to these additional (and not necessarily required OR enjoyable) activities, they are constantly giving unsolicited advice to the teachers (or administrators) about how to do their jobs properly.

How the hell are these kids ever going to make it as adults if their Mommies are always smothering them?

In my experience, kids who are smothered turn out to be loony.  

I had a friend in high school whose mother kept her under her thumb 24-7. She even pulled her out of school in 9^th grade in order to home-school her and keep her away from all the bad influences (and boys) that came along with high school.  

This friend was the same person who introduced me to a few recreational drugs. She’s the same person who used to sneak out of her bedroom window at night to whore around.  And, she’s the same person who got knocked-up at 17 and had an abortion behind her mother’s back.

I’m not saying all smothered kids are like that… but I grew up with quite a few and they were all on the wild side.

Now that I’m a parent, I can somewhat relate to how those smothering parents must have felt.  I don’t want anything to happen to my kids.  I don’t want them exposed to all the evil in the world.  

But, the reality of the situation is… I know that I can’t protect them from everything. What I can do is prepare them for life, give them some direction and instill in them a few moral values… and hope that some of that shit sticks.

But, I refuse to be one of "those" moms.  You know the kind... 

They’re the ones who “volunteer” at the school and walk around like they’re running things. They have perfect little fucked-up kids who can do no wrong.  The same kids who are in three sports, a dance class, an art class, a piano class AND bible study.  The same kids who are know-it-all bullies and disrespectful little pricks because their parents tell them they are better than everyone else.

I’m raising my kids to be adults; to know right from wrong and to respect themselves and others.  Lord knows I’m not perfect and my kids are huge pains in my ass most days, but I’ll try to do my best to prepare them for life in a world that is unfair more often than not.


Tamara Hancock is a freelance writer from Texas who dreams of hitting it big some day. But for now, she just pimps others out for money. Also, she complains. A lot. You will find her ranting away at http://www.snarkyheifer.com.