I think society should be adult-centered, not child-centered. “Back in my day,” parents were not so uber-involved in all the extra-curricular activities of their children, like most parents are today.
My BIL just moved his daughter into college last week. He says he will have a very difficult time with empty-nest syndrome, because he and his wife spent so much of their time going to all of her basketball and volleyball games, which were several nights a week. Now I supppose he and his wife are just going to stare at each other across the table, not knowing what to talk about.
A healthy family is one where the marriage is at the center, not the kids. Just my humble opinion. :-)
Amen! When parents make children (as opposed to the marriage) the center of their lives, it puts a huge burden on the kids, from childhood through adulthood.
>>A healthy family is one where the marriage is at the center, not the kids.<<
You are absolutely right. My wife and I say, “We were a couple before we had kids, and nothing should change.”
Relationships are doomed once parents start putting their children between them.
Having said that though, this article is slightly scary. As our society becomes more and more selfish, we’ll see fewer and fewer kids.
We got married young and started raising children young. Never regretted a moment of it!
“I think society should be adult-centered, not child-centered. “Back in my day,” parents were not so uber-involved in all the extra-curricular activities of their children, like most parents are today.”
Agree strongly with you. It’s called “accessibility time.” In other words, a parent is around someplace, but not involved in or directing childplay. The child has a sense of security just knowing a parent is within calling distance. So-called quality time is good if not overdone. Children need to practice the good examples they get from their parents away from their parents. Like solving disputes. Nowadays, adults interfere and control that process and kids aren’t learning it how to do it themselves. Now we have anger management classes to make up for what they never were allowed to learn.