Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Parenting - Do you ever wonder what your kids will be as teenagers?

The other day I was about to take the train when I saw a group of girl teenagers hanging out in the train station waiting for the train the same as me. They were all from different nationalities, and one of them was fair skinned and with glasses and slightly overweight, and she seemed to be the one carrying on the conversation at the moment, her friends who ranged from Eastern European to African American and Hispanic were actively listening to the first girl rant about how she couldn't believe the hideous dress that whatever girl was wearing that day. "O my Gawd! She looked so hideous, her skirt was all long it looked like she was a grandmother wearing that!" The others agreed with her and proceeded to comment about all the other girls that were ridiculous or hideous or simply didn't fit the standards that these girls had placed on them. At that moment I thought to myself:
"I really hope my daughters don't grow up to be like that!" And honestly I really doubt it. But as I see them grow and see their friends I know that it is my responsibility to teach them to be respectful to others and teach them good values and to accept people and not gossip. I like to lead by example here and I do think that they will grow up to be respectful people and that they won't end up hanging out with their friends talking about how horrible the other girls dress was. I expect them to not contribute to the gossip if they ever encounter themselves in a situation where her friends are doing it and would prefer if they had the option to walk away from it. Sometimes they will be able to walk away and sometimes not, but in the end I know that they would choose to be respectful.
Do you ever imagine your young kids as teenagers? Is there anything that worries you?
Or if your children are teenagers or older? Are there any thing that worries you about them?

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