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Don’t Bend Rules When it Comes to Cars
Mar 13 2008 by Emily Hansen
3/13/08
Driving a Good Battle to Pick When Parenting a Teen
I had to chuckle when I read the story of the “Meanest Mom on the Planet” — you know, the woman who placed an ad to sell her son’s car after she found alcohol in it. I read recently that the car had sold, which reminded me of something: We are all flying by the seat of our pants in this parenting job.
Being the parent of a teenage driver requires nerves of steel, the ability to empathize and, most of all, a gigantic backbone. I am living through a similar battle of wills right now because I told my son he could only get his driver’s license if he maintained a certain grade-point average. Well, he blew it, and as much as I want to back off what I said so he can get his own tushy to school and get on with an independent social life, I can’t. He’ll be rolling with mom until he “shows me the money,” leading him to argue, I’m sure, that I am in fact the Meanest Mom on the Planet.
There is a fine line between standing your ground and causing harm to the sometimes-tenuous parent-teen relationship, which means you need to know how to pick your battles when you’re parenting a teen. In both my and the “official” meanest mom’s cases, I’d like to think these were appropriate times to take a stand. When it comes to matters involving kids and cars, some hard-nosed consistency (and that aforementioned backbone) is critical. I bet both our sons will think twice before testing our resolve again.
Good for sticking to your guns. A major problem I see in parenting is inconsistency; kids know how far they can push the limits. When you mean what you say it builds a much stronger level of trust…and teaches them to think twice before they cross the line.
Of course, this is coming from a non-parent but I was a kid once and my parents *always* stuck to their word.
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