Parenting means lots of things; but often it can mean having to be the bad guy.
It’s an inner conflict many mums and dads struggle with – and we’ve never heard it epitomised better than it has been in a new Humans Of New York post.
An anonymous dad admitted to HONY that he’s pretty easygoing but pretends not to be when parenting his children.
“My kids are going to be shocked when they become adults and learn that I’ve basically been playing a character for their entire lives,” he said.
“All day long I have to pretend like I care about everything. I’m a laid back guy. I could actually care less if they make their beds. Or if they scratch the walls.
“But my character has expectations. He says what he means and he does what he says. My character hates video games. He barely allows them in the house.
“And he’ll banish them immediately when rules are broken. But I actually play Mario Kart all the time when they’re at school.”
The man admitted that he was heartbroken recently when he had to follow through on a threat he made.
“Last week my character got really upset. He threatened to throw away candy if the kids didn’t stop wrestling.
“When the wrestling continued, he was forced to follow through. I really thought it was a safe move. It’d been so long since Halloween.
“I was sure there’d be nothing good left– maybe just some chalky wafer things. But the kid was saving the best stuff for last. It was brutal. Full sized candy bars. There were tears.
“I didn’t want to do it, but my character had to keep his word.”
The post has divided followers of the viral account.
Some agreed that parenting means having to be strict.
“Sometimes you have to deny yourself of pleasures and comfort to teach your kids discipline and boundaries. You do what is right. Not what is comfortable,” wrote one.
“There are rules in society. It’s a parent’s duty to teach their children that rules have consequences if disobeyed. Anything less is a disservice to the children we love,” commented another.
Others argued that this style of child-rearing is unfair and unhelpful.
“It is not the way to bring up healthy, responsible, empowered and curious humans but rather humans that follow rules blindly without questioning,” said one follower.
“Consequences that don‘t relate in any way to the ‘crime’ committed are confusing for kids and it doesn‘t help them learn about life,” wrote another.
