EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it. PARENTS…YOUR JOB IS TO BE UNPOPULAR!

Chronicle Headline....

5 teens face charges over mailbox bomb
Mother says she bought supplies
By Johnny Edwards| Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 13, 2007

So and so (name omitted), 39, of So and So Drive (address omitted), told an investigator she bought the materials for the device at Wal-Mart. She said she knew the boys were making something that would explode but she saw no harm in it because they were only repeating an experiment they had learned at school, Chief Allen said.
She told police she did not know they would put the device into a mailbox, much less the one belonging to the principal and his wife, Renee, who teaches at the high school.

Want to read the rest?
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/021307/met_116309.shtml

If making a bomb wasn’t so dangerous this story would be comical. The fact that the mom bought the supplies and then said she didn’t know they would put it in a mailbox is hilarious to me. I'm sure this is probably a true statement. It's probable she didn't know exactly what they would do with it but I'm thinking...Nothing good can come of this.

Yes, they might have done a similar activity in school but they learn about wars at school too. Are you going to allow your children to re-enact the civil war in the front yard with live ammo? COME ON!! Let’s see… what was the difference between the school experiment and what they did at home? SUPERVISION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although, I would love to know more about the school that is teaching kids to make explosives.

Then there’s my personal favorite… yesterday on some Dr. something or other show there were parents seeking help. The show was called something like, HELP MY TWEEN IS OUT OF CONTROL!"

Their TWEENS (that’s 11 and 12 year olds, people) are WILD, you see. They are dressing provocatively, drinking, smoking, dancing a la Britney Spears when they go out with their friends, they are disrespecting their parents, they’re on the phone talking to boys all day long, and they have a different boyfriend every other day… “What should we do?” they asked.

Maybe I’m just old school but, I want to know…

 Who buys their clothes? Last time I heard 11 year olds couldn’t work.
 Where are these girls ALLOWED to go that they are able to dress provocatively, go dancing, smoke and drink, etc? How do they get there? Who is supervising them?
 Why is it that parents allow themselves to become hostages to their kids?

I’m not even going to say, “When I was eleven blah blah…” What I AM going to say is that I have an eleven year old daughter and guess what? I know where she is at all times, I know what she wears because I buy her clothes, I know who she’s talking to because I make it my business to know, I check up on her to make sure she isn’t giving in to the temptations of her peers and if and when she does mess up… I am right there to dish out the consequences and teach her better.

There is NO WAY she is talking on the phone or on the computer with boys because it is MY phone, MY computer and MY responsibility to assure that she be safe. I supervise to the best of my ability what she does and who she is doing it with. I teach her to respect others and herself. Parenting is more than a fulltime job folks so thing twice or a thousand times before you decide to procreate!

PEOPLE dare to be unpopular!!! Good parenting is NOT measured by how often your child has a smile plastered on their face. If you spend your energy making sure your child is infinitely happy, then you are going about it all wrong.

Children need to be faced with challenges and disappointments. This is part of the problem we have today with teens that lash out at the least provocation. Many of them have a sense that everybody owes them something.

This sense of entitlement often comes from parents that idolize the ground their kids walk on thereby creating a false sense of “I am the King/Queen". It's created, when we don't allow our children to fail or lose. There’s a difference between encouraging your child and creating a self centered person with a chip on their shoulder. This self absorbed person now cannot handle any rejection, criticism, or challenge so they have a melt down (often acting VERY inappropriately), when they’re disappointed in the slightest way.

Failures, challenges, hard work, disappointments are all good things, parents. These setbacks are learning experiences for children and teaching opportunities for parents. Learning HOW to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again is an essential life lesson.

Good parenting REQUIRES that you make the tough decisions even, when your child is heartbroken by it. Why? Because YOU know what’s best for your child. Come on now…. Think back. Remember what you thought you knew at age 12 or even age 18? You have to admit that looking back… you knew absolutely nothing. That’s why God gave us parents… to guide us. It isn’t fun and at times it is down right heart wrenching to do the right thing regardless how upset your child becomes.

Some parents don’t do a good job at guiding their children because they are so caught up in having their children “LIKE” them. I am a mother. I am tough, when I have to be. I am loving...always. I encourage my children and also hold them accountable for their mistakes. I am up on all the trends, music, technology, etc because it brings me closer to my children and being ignorant to what they are exposed to is a disadvantage to me as a parent. My children know I don’t mess around. They also love having me around. Their friends love me and I’m the mom every else's kid calls “Mom”. I don’t try to be popular with my children and their friends but I am.

They all know that I’m strict when I have to be but still love me and want to be around me and my home. Why? They need guidelines and sometimes they are craving for someone to steer them the right way. You wouldn't allow your toddler to walk across I-20 would you? Leniency and passive parenting is interpreted as uncaring a lot of the time.

Have I made mistakes? ABSOLUTELY!! I’ve made many parenting mistakes and I’m no expert but I think I’m qualified to give my opinion. I’m the mother of four children and have helped many children in last 11 years of running a Family Daycare.

I’ve made it a point to learn from my mistakes and the mistakes of others. Which is what I want to teach my children as well.

There are no guarantees that doing everything perfectly will result in a perfect child. On the contrary, all we can do is equip them with the tools they will need in life and give them opportunities to practice with them while they are with us. Once they are on their own, it’s up to them to use them. Until then, YOU ARE IN CONTROL!!!!

So, don’t hand your kid a sledge hammer and walk off. Also, don’t go buy your kids materials to build a bomb and walk off. God only knows what will happen.

The next time your kid’s head starts to spin, their face turns blue, and they start spewing green vomitous across the room when they don't get their way, don't give in.

Walk away.