discipline-action1) Be your kid’s parent, not his friend.
They’ll have enough friends, or not. I only have a couple people I can call friends, and at least for me that’s enough. Others have/need more.

The point is, a child can grow up ok with few friends, but he can’t do without a father as a role model.
Even if you have a close relationship with your children, the place each one occupies should never be forgotten.
A father-son relationship isn’t a democracy, not until he’s old enough to have a mature judgment.

2) Never lie to your son or daughter
This is important, and sometimes parents think that because a child is small they can lie to him.
You can tell kids Santa exists, you can allow them to live in a world where a little magic can exist, but that’s very different from lying and letting your child down whenever you feel like it. If you promise something, no matter how young, stick to your word. Your child will learn from you, imitate you in every aspect of life.
If you have no word, no honor, don’t expect you kids to have them just because.
They sure wont learn about true honor in school or on the streets with their friends. At least don’t count on that.

3) Kids require time
If you prefer to drink beer with your buddies all day or go to the mall with friends, maybe you shouldn’t be a parent in the first place.

My theory is that 90% of the problems society has today are due to poor family standards. There’s no standards, no right or wrong any more.

It’s as if grownups have more rights and have to be comprehended more than the kids themselves. I’m sick of hearing about the rights of this or that group of adults, while those same adults are just spoiled brats who couldn’t care for a glass of piss, let alone a child.

4) Kids require money
Again, some people apparently shouldn’t be parents. And I’m not only referring to the 3rd world variety where people have dozens of kids to make them work or beg, I’m also talking about parents in 1st world countries that pop out kids just to get welfare.
Kids require a lot of money and every responsible adult knows that.
Be generous with your kids too. You can teach them the value of money but few things are as pathetic as a parent that has a tight wallet when it comes to spending money on their kids.
There’s this family that today lives on the streets of Buenos Aires, homeless, that used to be educated middle class before the 2001 crisis.
The parents beg or sell the few crafts they make to survive, hippie style jewelry and that kind of think.
The mother said that even though they barely had enough food to live and no roof, she paid the little precious money she had to send her daughter to a private school. This may sound outrageous to a lot of people, but the situation in Argentina is unique, specially after 2001. Most public schools are simply a waste of time, even dangerous. Private schools aren’t for the rich, they are for the middle class and even for the poor. Schools that are private but subsidized by the government aren’t expensive at all and offer a better chance of getting an education and going to college, and most parents that care about their children make the extra effort.

5) Kids require discipline
In today’s feel good society discipline is something even adults don’t have, its no surprise to see they can’t apply it to their children as well.

Respect towards older people, behave as they should, these are things that were common knowledge a few years ago.
Just like a parent is supposed to be a mother or father but not a friend, there are limits your kid should know very well.
Kids need limits. If they don’t find them they feel lost, and I can assure you, a kid that doesn’t find limits, boundaries, will keep pushing until parents, society … or police, gives them to him.

I remember once when my son used a very ugly word to refer to my wife. My wife looked at him straight to the face and slapped him, once. He never used that word with her again. There are things a parent simply doesn’t allow, like insults and disrespect , and its supposed to work that way. Again, if you tolerate those (from anyone ) don’t be surprised when your child does so as well.

6) Teach your kids the skills they’ll need to survive
In toady’s politically correct world, its more important than ever to teach your kids several skills our parents or even ourselves considered common knowledge. If you leave a child only with what the school education and society provides, he’ll end up being a 18 year old gothic freak that can’t boil an egg.

Go camping with him, teach him how to fix things around the house, demand that he helps you when you do so. Teach him how to fight, shoot, how to take care of himself in our society with its crime, gangs and drugs.

7) Teach your kids to succeed
Someone mentioned to me the other day a problem this person was having with his kid in school. His kid had won a race, but was not distinguished during the sporting activity so that other kids didn’t feel bad, something similar had happened to him during swimming.

It’s unbelievable folks, but that’s the world we live in today: You are taught to not have a winner mentality, so as to not offend others that aren’t as capable as you, or simply didn’t train as hard or just didn’t have enough luck.
This mentality, this easy way of doing things, only encourages children to not push themselves harder, to be ok with being mediocre creatures, that doesn’t hope for nor does he desire to succeed.

Avoid this mentality by all means. Take you child to practice competitive sports, wrestling, martial arts, soccer, football or tennis, something where there’s a clear winner and looser. Even if he loses, he’ll build up character and that’s better than not competing in the first place.

Fernando Aguirre