PARENTING

 Life is a long series of choices and so is parenting.  Choose well.  

When you are very young, choices are made for you by parents and other adult leaders.  Good parenting is making good choices for the young; teaching the child to choose well and, importantly, allowing the young to make choices when they are able.  Discuss the thought process that goes into making choices; confirm the good and explaining the poor or bad.  Delve into the 'why'.  

One of the keys to making good choices is being able to foresee the possible outcomes.  The young are not able to do that very well until taught.  Some adults are evidently never able to do that.   

The lifelong benefit to all this is developing a good moral compass.  Learning what is right and what is wrong - learning respect for others and their property; for rules and laws.   

We all emerge from adolescence with a moral compass; knowing what is good and what is bad.  We get a feeling of how far we can push the needle from good toward bad and not have a very bad outcome.  We all emerge with the notion of risk and reward; how big is the risk we are willing to take for the chance of a certain reward. 

It's complex.  It's not easy for anyone involved.  It's difficult to change once you're an adult.  Everyone we know has a little different mindset about good and bad, right and wrong, risk and safety, material values and much more.  

Life is so much easier if you restrict your friends to those with a similar moral compass and set of ideals.  Likewise, it will be better for your children as well.