6,134 days Sir Garfield Barwick Longest serving Chief Justice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Guilt: the state of having committed an offense; remorse from feeling responsible for an offense.
An offense? Does that mean that when parents do the right thing for their children they shouldn’t feel guilty? Sure sounds like it; unfortunately it doesn’t “match up” with what we hear from parents around the country.
Many of the parents that we hear from feel guilty for not doing enough…. or for doing too much for their children, for not making enough money to buy them everything they want… and for buying so many ‘goodies’ that their children have no respect for their own belongings. They feel guilty when they hover and “helicopter” and overprotect. Parents also seem to feel guilty when their kids must take out the trash, put away their own laundry and wash the dishes.
In the past, our family units were more rigidly structured and, whether growing up on a farm, in the city or somewhere in between, everyone had assigned chores. They were real responsibilities. In many cases, the survival of the family depended upon this teamwork. Perhaps it does again.
Can you shift your point of view about asking your children to participate in household management? Not only are they learning skills that will serve them when they are older, they’re contributing to the wellbeing of the entire family.
How is that something to feel guilty about?
