As a single father of two teenagers, I am well aware of the problems parents go through. Heck, I’ve gone through my fair share and was literally pushed passed my breaking point many times.
I am far from a great parent and have made my fair share of mistakes. But the one thing I pride myself on is allowing my children to experience the real world and develop the skills they need to survive and ultimately prosper.
Too often, I see parents who are over protective or swing to the opposite spectrum and do not provide any structure. It’s that attempt to stay in the middle that drives us crazy! 
That is a tough balancing act.
I’ve watched over the years how parents have literally had a nervous breakdown because they could not control their kids. The truth is you can’t and never will be able to control them. The best you can do is to serve as their role model and pray!
You see children, will ultimately do what they want to do! No matter what we desire for them they will have to learn how to make informed choices and decisions. Sure, it’s sad to watch your children suffer but that’s life.
Ahhh…you just made a face didn’t you? Look back to when you were growing up did you listen to your parents?
Think about this for a second…the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree!
Your children, whether you like it or not, will mimic your behavior. Not just your current behavior but the behavior during your teenage years as well. Just take a look at them and I guarantee they will be doing almost exactly what you were doing at their age.
Couple that with whatever you did as an adult and in front or around them. What you will come up with is a complete, although not a totally accurate, picture of your child.
Let me give you an example, if as a young man you were busy running after the girls and chasing the women there’s a strong possibly your son will do the same. If you continue this behavior and your son sees this he will mostly likely repeat it as he thinks it’s the “right thing to do” since dad is doing it.
The same is true for women. If as a young lady you were involved with knuckleheads then your daughter may follow in your footsteps. However, as an adult if you allowed knucklehead men to enter your life and treat you like crap your daughter is watching this. Thus, when she becomes of age she will repeat your behavior because she feels it’s the “right thing to do” because mommy allowed it to happen to her.
Yet, we get upset with the choices and decisions our children make. Let me be as clear as possible. Do the best you can with your children, lead by example and pray! That’s all you can do! Then let go and allow them to grow just as you did and always be there to support them even in the bad times.
It’s the inability of not being able to let go that hurts parents the most! Just like you craved your independence they want the same! It’s funny how as parents most of us forget what we were like way back when!
Oh yeah, there’s one more thing! If you are a single parent you must know that the children will also mimic of of the absent parent’s behaviors as well! Don’t believe me just take a good look at your kids and you will see their mother or father in them too!
Now don’t get me wrong, everything I just stated above is based on my experience by watching people over the last 20-years. Just look at your life and you will see that almost everything I wrote has some validity.