My husband and I always joke that our house is my house, our bedroom is my bedroom and all the money he makes is mine. The truth is—it’s no joke. My husband is very patient, kind and quite possibly a little scared of me, so he let’s me lay down the law in our (my) house. He dutifully follows the rules set forth by his bossy wife. But when it comes to raising our son, my husband is a major league rule breaker.
My husband always exceeds the limits set on TV time, cookies, and trips to McDonald’s. He’s such a pushover our son already knows he has a sucker for a father. My husband can’t stand to see our son cry or throw a fit—so he either turns on the TV or quiets with a cookie. He’s slow to give a “time-out” and quick to give something to sooth. I hate policing his parenting but his tactics drive me crazy.
What my husband doesn’t seem to understand is-- giving a child limits and boundaries is not a bad thing. In fact, most of the time our son is with me he respects the rules. If he’s had too many cookies and wants more I tell him he can have something else. There’s no crying, no tantrums, he just says okay. But he also knows Mama means business.
Children tend to push when they know they can. But when they get older pushy becomes obnoxious or rude. Think, spoiled brat.
When you give children options they learn to make decisions. When you limit TV time, they learn to enjoy so many other things. Sometimes it takes a little more work but your child will be better for it.
The questions remains: Will my husband come around? If he wants to stay in “my” house I’m sure he’ll relent.
