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Something that hasn't been mentioned are the one parent family with just the mother. And that is usally the case.

I divorced when my 3 sons were 13,8,and 6. My children had very good manners (this from there teachers) and knew how to treat women and old people.(open doors, stand up when someone entered the room.) But they didn't just pull this out of thin air. I had to work with them. That also meant they had to have discipline. Spanking worked better than anything when they were small.

If I had let them get one inch ahead of me they would have taken over. There was not one doubt in their mind that they would obey me. Even after they were teenagers and a LOT bigger than me, they knew that I would pick something up and throw it at them if they talked back. (Flame away.)

I had one son to get in trouble once. One is a Marine, one is a physicist. The one that got in trouble is entering pharmacy school next fall. My sons knew that no matter what I would always be there for them but they also knew that I wasn't just their friend but their Mother and THE BOSS.

I don't beleive in the cop out that I couldn't control them because they were boys and bigger. I put the rest of my life on hold to raise my children and I have no regrets.