It's very interesting while babysitting to observe what impact parents have on their children's development of a) their character, b) their self-esteem, and c) their ability to interact with others in social and business situations. I have babysitted many different types of families, and I can tell you that much of the parent's actions come back to haunt them with their children. There are a lot of kids whose parents spoil them rotten in my neighborhood. Oh yes, they have a daddy who makes five-hundred grande a year, and so he can get them everything they want! "Daddy, I want a go-cart." "Okay, sweetie." They praise their children. "You are the world, honey." They let them do whatever they want. "Darling, that's fine. Whatever you want, honey-pie." The result? There is something positive that comes from that. A child that does not hold limits on their character. They want to be something, want to do something, they don't believe anything will stop them. One problem: They think Daddy will do everything for them. Another problem: Their parents teach them they can have whatever they want, whenever they want. They learn that they can demand of their parents whatever it is they want, and they learn that their parents will take care of their needs every time. They then believe they are queen or king, and when they go interact with other people, say friends, family, babysitters, teachers, whatever, they demand the same thing. Tough luck for these little rotten eggs: They aren't queen and king. Not everyone is going to take care of them. Their egos are high, but not the respect they receive from everyone else. What goes around comes around. And while their parents had the best of intentions, they thoroughly wrecked thier children's lives for much of it. It will be rough for children like that until they figure things out on their own. Some of them never recover, and become anti-social recluses. Others are the lucky benificiaries of a generous inheritance, and they entertain and find ways into false friendships with their abundant money. Others just figure it out. Hopefully, the children I have met who are like this will figure it out.


There are also children whose parents treat them quite the opposite. They aren't worth their time of day, and their parents won't do a diddly-squat for them. "Mommy, can I please have a new shirt? This one has holes in it, and the kids at school are laughing at me." "So? That's your problem, pumpkin." The parent does nothing to inspire their child, and nothing to help them with their needs. In fact, they surpress their inspirations. "Would you please shut up? I'm sick of your singing! It's great you want to go be on Broadway, but go shreak in someone else's ear!" Sounds cruel, doesn't it? It's not uncommon. The parent might love the child, but they just don't know how to express it.

Both of these are hideous and to the extremes. Parenting is often a balancing act. This is one of the many parts of a child's life that has to be balanced. Some parents are very imbalanced in their approach with raising their child. Others are very well balanced. Now, have I ever seen a family that is perfectly balanced? No. No family is perfect. You can even divide each aspect of a child's life that the parents have an impact on and dissect it to see if even ONE part is perfect. Not even one. But...no one is perfect. We are products of reality. Nothing is perfect; neither are we. Such is life. But what would be good with a perfect world? How would we even know what's good if there's nothing bad?

Ahhh! I hate cleaning! But when it's done, it feels so good. But let me tell you, I've been going for almost twenty-four hours, and I'm not done yet. I am going all-out...reorganizing my shelves, my papers, my closet...and I steam-cleaned the carpet. I am so sick of this carpet. It is white, and every time my cat decides to blow chunks, the carpet wears a nice reminiscence of it, and it's almost impossible to get out. Luckily, the stains fade a shade lighter every time I steam-clean. So I'll just keep going...grr. Anyway, I hope to finish soon, so I can start my summer! And I'll have a perfectly clean room!