kids today

[ALLO5775]

as a mother of 3 i'm very scared for my kids. i hope i'm doing everything i can to teach my kids rite from wrong. their are so many kids out their having sex soooooo young, and doing drugs. (i have some time my oldest is 4) does anyone else see whats going on today with kids?

[pixiepie]

im a mum of 4 my eldest 2 are 9 and it scares the hell outta me the thought of them growing up in todays world. Kids are having babies drugs seem to be everywhere and young children are being mugged for bikes and phones.
Try not to wrap them in cotton wool but its hard

[ALLO5775]

i'm tring hard to install the rite values in them. we talk about jesus and doing good things. my neice is 12 and going through the pre-teen isues. her mom just left her dad(my brother). she's going through alot and i'm scared for her. she's very sneaky. i feel for my brother when she's older. i don't want her making the same misstakes we all made.

[cameo]

I know exactly what you mean.
I have 2 daughters, 15 and 10. I t is very worrying, especially when they hit their teenage years.
I think it's important to talk to them, not just to tell them how to behave but also to listen, plus as anyone with teenagers will know if you tell them not to do something they invariably will!!
I think that it's also important to teach them to make the right choices, for example getting to school on time. - My daughter has to get a bus to school, although I do encourage her to get it on time, she knows that its up to her to take responsability for it herself, if she's late and gets a detention it's down to her and she can't complain!!
I think as parents we can educate, talk and listen and then keep our fingers tightly crossed and hope for the best!!!!!

[nutgoneflake]

A good friend of mine has three teenagers, and they're all fantastic kids, no problems. I asked her a while back what her secret was, and she didn't think she had one! While chatting though, I realised she has a good attitude to their lives, and to her own. She takes an interest, listens to them, leaves them alone if that's what they need. They can talk to her about anything, because she doesn't overreact, and has always answered their probing questions honestly. But the story that summed her up was when her son asked, at 14 or so, to dye his hair green and pierce his ear. She said yes, in the school holidays, he could. Result:- he thought she was cool, she had a tiny bit of control. I thought she'd taken the easy way out, until she said, "Ears can heal up, the dye will grow out. When he asks for a tattoo, I'll say no, and he won't get one, guaranteed." He respects her, and that's where her secret lies!!

It's also well summarised by the saying "Don't sweat the small stuff."

I just hope in ten years' time that will be me with my two..? There's plenty that scares me about the world they will be living in, but I'm already telling my 6 year old that as long as he has a voice in his head telling him what's right and wrong, he will grow into a decent chap! He already understands that.

[ALLO5775]

i think familly time is good too. my neice asked me one day......does uncle larry always do that? confussed i said what. then she replied playing with the kids. she went on to tell me how lucky they were to have us. that we do cool stuff with our kids. by the way he was making paper airplanes for them and her. she broke my heart that day. see i was 15 when she was born. she's always been my sidekick! she was the only kid for 7 yrs. then i started my own familly and that was hard on her. i feel for her. i try to do what i can, but i have three of my own now that need me. parenting is hard! but i love every minute of it!

[nutgoneflake]

I really feel like my whole life has been waiting for these two little boys to come along and make it perfect. Now I understand what my mum meant years ago when she said we'd never know how much she loved us all until we had children of our own. I am a Mummy through and through, and would do anything to protect my lads! That's another thing that makes it all so hard to let them go and make their own way in the scary outside world.

Listen to me - mine are only 6 and 3 and I already sound like they're leaving home tomorrow and breaking my heart...!!

[ALLO5775]

i know the feeling. my son is 4 and acts as though he's 20. you can have a conversation with him and you don't feel like your talking to a 4yr old! my kids are my life. i'm so glad i had them. i was 22 when i had my son. sometimes i feel like i was too young,but my husband was 31. being a young mom is hard. people look down on you. i'm sure alot of people think he married me cause i got pregnant. truth is we were married 6 months before i got pregnant.

[nutgoneflake]

My biggest fear is that I'll bring up two fantastic young men, with a healthy outlook on life, not too smothered by me (ha!) and they'll go off to do something amazing at University - leaving me at home bursting with pride, but that they'll start kicking around with friends who had parents who didn't have the same ideas as me, you know, not thinking the same morals etc are important, and they'll end up the total opposite. A bit like the theory that you can be an excellent driver, but a bad one can still cause an accident involving you! I'm not kidding myself that these two won't have their moments, but I look at some of the mums at school and think, "you need to stop and think about that.." And that's just 6,7,8 year olds who already seem to be trouble, and the parents you just KNOW are going to let them get worse, without a moment's thought.

Anyone else have children at school who you're glad are not friends with your own? I do!! (Evil mum...)

[MYSTERYT]

I have a 16 nearly 17 yr old daughter and a 9 yr old son and it is a true worry , when my daughter was 11 having them mood swing's !!!!!!, i use to think how am i gonna get through this , i remember a teacher in her school telling me that she had a 16yr old who done the same i said what's the answer , she said never be her friend but always listen as a parent , i did and i am such a proud parent of my daughter if my daughter has ever answered me back i just remind her that she is the child and im the parent and that if she carries on then there is a punishment that can follow (the mobile is the one that work's at the mo lol), i now use this with my son and thankfully it still work's, i have always had an open relationship with my kids about sex, drugs etc and i believe that this a key role in being a good parent ,

[jasaimo]

some one once said to me that if you could express the amount of love you feel for your children you would explode.
i am only just 26 and i have 3 kids aged 6,4 & 2 as you can imagine i have my hands full.
i was talking to my sister about what it will be like when they hit their teens i want my kids to be able to talk to me but also know hte difference between rite and wrong. i hope i`m doing ok i dont know who i`m more worrie dabout my sons or my daughter. all we as parents can do is install good values in them. and let them know that there is a line that you dont cross(although they probably will once or twice) the more parnet who take an interest in their kids will mean less kids having babies and taking drugs, i`m not saying i was an angel but i knew where the line was. just talk to your kids dont cushion the outside world. give respect and you will get it back as i think teens are lacking this at the moment.