I often hear women say their husband is too hard on their kids. He expects too much, he punishes them too harshly, or he doesn’t understand what they can and can’t do. Some of these women are right, some partially right. And some are unnecessarily concerned, or overprotective.

I have seen kids who are well-behaved when with their father, and badly behaved when dad’s not around. These kids have figured out mom and dad have different standards, and they live up to or down to those standards. Do the kids behave around their father because they are terrified? It doesn’t look that way to me.

God gave kids a male and a female parent because they need both. They require the strengths of each gender to grow up to be healthy, productive adults. The “trick” is figuring out how to balance what you offer and what he offers.

When you think he is being too hard on the kids, talk about it. Don’t just complain, ask him about what he’s doing and why. What is his goal? What is he concerned will happen if he is more lax? He may have given it more thought than you realise.

Share your understandings, insights, and concerns to build a joint parenting style. Your children and society will be better for it!

~ Paul – I’m XY, and parenting is tough!

Image Credit: © Paul H Byerly created with stockdreams.ai
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