Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaolin Crane
Best way? Probably not, .
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This is the point probably. Not so much disagreement on desired reasonable ends. The means are important though. Depending on the parent and child and methods, the child can grow up with as many problems that result from crappy attempts at discipline as anything else.
I don't have kids, but my personal opinion is that I'd be as easy, loving and affectionate as possible, instilling cause and effect through discussion and "trade" as much as possible.
I think people, regardless of age, have an instinctive desire for stuff obviously, so it's a matter of defining the parameters of how they get and keep it. Frankly, by the time kids start getting towards ten, and certainly by teenage years, they should probably get some allowance that they can use as they please (and what they get is purely theirs at that point) or work to buy what they want. When I was 10 my dad told me he didn't have anymore free money, so I went to work. He paid me $100/week (1984) to work with him . . and I did really work, over the summer and made a bit more than $1k, which I used to buy things I wanted, like a Free Style Haro bike. It was one of the most satisfying memories in my life. A couple years later I bought my own guitars and so own. These things were always just treated as my property though I was a child.
I am NOT saying parents shouldn't provide things for their kids, but I think there's considerable room for kids to get acquainted with the idea of providing for themselves at a fairly young age. There could be exceptions to this in the case where a kid had some special talent or is completely focused on advanced education from an early age that required all their time and focus.