Triple The Dad

There is a dirty little secret about correcting children: It relies entirely on an unspoken contract between parent and child.  The contract goes something like this:  “Wherefore I am the adult and the only party with any type of long-range planning skills and knowledge about the wider world I will make the rules.  Whereas you are a high-energy, low-knowledge individual with a need for immediate gratification that can be both destructive and dangerous, you will follow those rules for both your betterment and the betterment of the world at large.  Decreed that since as adult I am bigger, stronger, generally faster and for the time smarter you will listen to these rules and obey the consequences.”   Some of us parents are breaking the compact. You see that last clause in our contract?  That part about being stronger, smarter, etc. etc.?  The dirtiest secret about correcting your kids is that if they simply don’t listen you really have nothin...