parenting

As a mother of four, grandmother of seven; I have to say that it is unfortunate that children do not come with an instruction manual.....LOL I do think that you can tell if you are raising a "good kid"......if they are loving, kind, considerate, responsible, honest, compassionate, able to cope with the demands of school, able to socialize with their peers, and so much more...... I always try to teach my children to be caring, to think about the other people, never participate in "hate", the importance of family and responsibility. I always taught them that their opinion mattered and there was a proper way to express that opinion. Ways to deal with anger and frustration and how to learn from thier mistakes and others mistakes. My children are 29, 27, 26, and 4. None of them have ever been in trouble with the law and we are all very close...like other families we do have our occassional disagreements.....but on the whole we are all very close. The fact that as adults, my children still want to be a part of my life and are caring & respectful as a very high compliment to the way that we raised them. If you are helping them to become a well adjusted adult someday who cares about themselves and others; are supportive of their dreams and desires; are there to console them when the world kicks them; then I would say that you are "doing it right"! Hope that you found this helpful, my friend.