We all know fiction is an element of drama where the characters/events are not real.

They are structurally planned in the head of the writer and then penned down for the entertainment of the audience.

We all love it,we know it's not real but we enjoy it cos of the strong message it possesses.
But then,do we also have to apply it to parenting too??

Yesterday I was at a friends place and caught him in time scolding his 8years old son. If not for the serious nature of what the boy did,I would have actually started laughing (which I do often) cos I couldn't believe what I was hearing coming from my friends mouth.

All he kept repeating to the boy was "when I was your age, I don't hesitate when my father sends me on an errand, "if my father says stop..I stop immediately without talking back at him".

Oh my God!! That cliche is outdated. Infact,for me,it's the "Volkswagen beetle" of Parenting101.

I'm not a father, I will be someday but God knows there's no way I'm not going to acknowledge my mistakes as a child and a teenager while growing up to my own kids. I owe it to them to let them know that the man I am to them is not a demi god(as we all see our fathers) who is infallible.

They need to know I made these same mistakes, that I was very disobedient at certain points in my life to my parents and there were days my parents must have probably wished (though they never said so) they didn't birth me.
My kids need to understand I grew up to look back at all those formative years and realised that those stubbornness/strong head was not worth it for me. Letting these children into your personal experiences and how it all panned out for you will.help inculcate the character you are trying to form in them effortlessly.

I have taught young teenagers a lot for almost 7years and one thing I have come to.understand is that they are always willing to learn when you have a regret to share compared to when you talk to them like you are a saint. Even if you are, they would always assume you are gloating and it rarely inspires them.

They always want to see the wrongs of an adult.They want to hear you talk about falling or failing and then finally rising above your failure.it's a relatable fantasy for them.

Try and apply that when scolding your kids. Instead of saying things like "I took first position from primary 1 to 6(which you didn't), you are not inspiring them unless of course you achieved that, you are actually mounting enormous pressure on them that is catastrophic to their fundamental development.

Let that child know who you were, who you later became and let them know why you are scolding them is so they won't make the same mistake you made as a child too. That, for me, is very relatable.