good parenting the drowninginkids way

The biggest problem i see with shane and i's parenting style is our complete lack of respect for authority or the social structures of authority. We have trouble sticking to schedules because we just don't really care.

I was surprised to hear my sister complain and, actually be vehemently opposed, to children calling adults by their first name. I am jess to all of my kids friends and i like it. I don't feel like mrs soandso. My sister said it showed a complete lack of respect for authority. It made me wonder what kind of authority i wanted to impose over my children and, for that matter, their friends. Of course i want my kids to listen to me and respect me but i also want them to form their own opinions and feel like it's okay to see the world differently than i do. I expect when they are at their friends houses that they will treat other parents with respect and be courteous. I also expect them to be kids. I expect other parents to keep my children safe when they are under their supervision. I'm not foolish enough to think that it will always be easy or that they will always respect me (even just a little bit), but i do hope that they always feel that i respect them and will protect them.

However, all that being said we had a good old cursing party at dinner tonight. Shane swears a lot and i try to bite my tongue and probably rarely swear. But, being a child at heart i always think swearing is fun and like the calling me by my first name thing don't really see it as a big deal. We talk about how you can't swear at school or at other peoples houses. And, in all honesty, they aren't allowed to swear at home. Except when we have the swearing fun party. The word of the night tonight was "goddammit" and parker had it perfected in seconds. Screaming at the top of his lungs "GODDAMMIT!!!" It really doesn't sound that funny now and i don't know what the hell we were thinking but, oh boy, did we laugh.