Quote:
Originally posted by Lilith
Pick your battles by virtue of their importance.
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Lilith, I think this is by far the wisest thing I've have ever 'heard' you say.
Yes, PICK YOUR BATTLES!! For example, in the entire scheme of things how important is a pierced ear, or a crazy hairstyle, or 'fad' clothing (I don't mean clothing that exposes too much of the body), a cleaned room, an unmade bed, or whether or not he cleans his plate, just as examples.
I raised 3 boys and although they indeed had a father in the home, I had the bulk of the responsibility since Dad worked afternoons. They only really saw him on weekends. My oldest pierced his ear without permission at 16. I wanted him to wait til he was 18. But I figured if this is the worst thing he ever did, then he'd be doing damn good. He had extremely long hair too. Again, I used the same reasoning....if that's the worst he ever did etc.
By all means encourage him to bring his friends home. I always had a gang of kids at my house. I didn't always enjoy it, but I knew who they were hanging out with and if they were home with their buddies, I knew where they were.
All of my boys have turned out to be very responsible adults. No drugs, no problem drinkers and no trouble with the law.
But I am grateful I didn't have any girls to raise....I would have had a hard time dealing with a Madonna-wannabe.