In fact, it’s the fastest track of them all.
“Trying to be friends with your kids now is precisely what creates entitled losers later.
When I got grounded for a month, it meant a month.
My parents put me in my room for 4 weeks, with nothing but push ups, books, and a Hank Jr. Box Set.
Damnit I am thankful for them.”
-Ray Zingler on X
Being a 90’s kid was awesome.
We got a blend of a little bit of the technology, but also got our asses whipped for acting a fool in church.
And when we got grounded, we got GROUNDED, or at least I did.
I don’t remember who told me this, but last year or so I had a parent tell me how awful their kid (middle school I believe) was acting so she had to, “take their phone for 4 hours.” Thank goodness, this conversation didn’t happen in person because I wouldn’t have been able to contain my laughter.
4 Hours? HOURS? With no phone. That’s 240 minutes.
I’d have stretches where I’d get grounded for a month. And a month meant 4 weeks.
In my bedroom with nothing but push-ups, books (MuscularDevelopment Magazines) and a Hank Jr. Box Set.
There’s a reason I know every single word to every single song Hank Jr. ever recorded.
Now I’m not going to sit here and say my parents were abusive or mistreated me. They were and still are great parents, but I was going to learn that lesson.
A day meant a full day of punishment. A week meant a week. And a month meant a month.
There was no wavering on it either.
As much as I thought my parents “sucked” and were being ridiculously unfair at the time, as I look back on it, they were more gracious and forgiving than I deserved.
I probably deserved to have it a lot worse than I really did.
But I am thankful for those days, because those hours spent alone with nothing but my own thoughts forced me to grow in ways that I did not at the time understand. I think my “forced” behavioral correction as a pre-teen and teen have a lot to do with my behavior and success today.
As much as there are still some great parents out there today, there are many who try to be their friends.
They forgo standards. They forgo discipline.
They do anything and everything they can to be the “cool parent”.
And I don’t know if there is a faster track to Loserville for kids whose parents focus on trying to be their friends at the expense of being their parents.
