Family Rules [antikvár]

Introduction children are not a constant joy. They are often a great deal of aggravation and worry. To help them grow into happy, self-respecting adults, we try to be patient, understanding, generous parents. Yet these virtues are not enough. They can produce irresponsible, unhappy children—unless we also show firmness, consistency, and clarity. Children need the security of clearly enforced rules before they can begin to handle freedom. Clarity begins at home A1 and Betty have two boys, ages eight and eleven, and Betty's fifteen-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. At times, any one of the three children can make AI and Betty feel frustrated and angry; more often, though, the feeling these parents are left with is worry. *Tf only we could be sure that they knew how to take care of themselves," Al says. "This is not the world we grew up in. Everything today seems so much more catastrophic, so much less certain." Betty observes her daughter Cathy's friends: "They aren't realistic. Sometimes they don't seem to believe that they have full lives ahead of them to look forward to."