Shaun, there is alot of truth in your observation but also alot of conflicting statements.
Like yours, my wife is in the education field. In her case, 35 years in Special Education. Allot of those years in locked facilities such as Juvenile Hall, and as you ask "Where are the parents?" when a 5 year old misbehaves, the professionals ask the very same thing even as kids are incarcerated ... where are the parents?

Do you suppose the good parents are on youtube shooting up computers and pontificating about what the are doing to "get even " with their misbehaving kid? ... I dont think so ... and they certainly arent behind doors "beating the shit" out of their kids.

There is nothing wrong with saying "NO!" to a kid and I agree with so many others speaking on this subject, in that kids are spoiled as a general rule .... so whose fault is that ? Where are the parents? .... and what the heck happened to the declaration of "NO"??

I feel for your wife, I know what she is going through. A person has to have a license to own a dog and drive a car but any idiot can have kids and I would venture to bet most kids show to your wifes class without breakfast in their stomach because lazy mom and dad (if there is a dad) are still in bed when the kids leave for school ... I am surprized some kids even make it to school.

Shaun I think I know you well enough from some of the stuff you have posted here , for example worrying if you did the right thing in a financial transaction , indicates to me that no matter how many kids you have only one has to worry about being beat by you in that I would bet you wouldnt do that a second time ..... you would feel too bad, you would find that beating your kid hurts you more than the kid.

I dont think you are gonna have "problem children", you have displayed a pretty good set of values here and your children will learn from your lead.

As far as you not wanting to get in a pissing match with anyone over this subject, I would think any mature adult should be able express themselves in a rational matter without ridicules or hatred .... and those that do ridicule and take on a bullying name-calling stanch are simply showing a lack of intelligence and maturiity ..... sorta like this yo-yo did in the video LOL.

well thank you Rank. i hope!..lol
my wife and i had a whole 2 hour discussion about our daughter today in our drive to do our valentines day thing and the only fear i have for my kids will be that they do the right things and learn from the wrong. and the fear is to appreciate everything that is handed to them.
My wife brought up a good point. at the age of 2 my daughter has done more at her age now then we did before we even turned 10. will she remember most of it nope but she did it and we have pictures to prove it..lol

What my wife and i talked about is when our parents had us at the age of 2 what did we have? not much so we understood the things we went through and what we had. My daughter and my unborn child is setup much better then we had it.
My daughter has her own room! her own toys her own TV (kind of its in my office and she uses it to watch her movies its not in her room and she will not get a tv in her room for a long time) and when we have our next child that child will have the same setup its own room and so on.

we just want to make sure that they understand these things we worked hard for and for them to have and enjoy but not to take advantage of! thats my biggest fear :)

When I put up this link I never expected such passionate responses. I should not be surprised though. We all are passionate about many things, our families, our pets, our cars and so much more.

We all know that everyone has an opinion, and as adults we have grown to understand that we need to respect other peoples opinions.

Have I always made the right decisions when it came to my kids, I hope so. Did I try to do the best that I could, I did. Were my kids ever really mad at me, oh heck yeah. Am I a good parent ? How do we determine a good parent ? Is it someone who loves their children, who puts their safety first, who listens to them, who rewards them for accomplishments, who takes them to school everyday, who allows them to express themselves ? Is a good parent someone who has rules, chores for them to do everyday, monitors their computer, checks who their friends are, follows up with teachers, disciplines them when they break the rules, grounds them, takes away things ? Who makes the decision on who is a good parent ? All I know is that I did the best I could and I would give my life for anyone of my children.

Lindsay does not like it when I am on Facebook.

" Dad you owe me four rounds at $1.00 each .... four dollars please"