Kids need to be encouraged, nagged and to be dealt with strictly and with discipline at times, to be sure.
But try or wish as one might, you cannot ever get back your childhood. Riding your bicycle at 9:30 PM on that longest day in June and then catching a jar full of fireflies, spending snows days sledding, building snow forts and oddly-shaped snowmen, sleeping over (but mostly talking and laughing about the opposite sex) and if, you're lucky enough, feeling wonderfully sick to your stomach and tingly all over during that first teenage romance.
I think good parents can foster an environment where these once-in-a-lifetime experiences can happen as well as serious application to academics, music, sports, and other activities. I'm not saying it's easy, and a child may get off track now and then, but it can be done.
When those 18 years are up, they are over forever. There are no do-overs of childhood; to use another cliche, you cannot go home again. The best you can hope for is that you want to go home again.
If you want to be a pianist in a world-famous orchestra, or an Olympic ice skater, you almost certainly have to give up a good part of your childhood. And for the vast majority of kids, getting into an Ivy League school requires straight A's in hard classes and really good SAT scores. The cost in time, and maybe in peace of mind and soul, can be quite high, though.
But try or wish as one might, you cannot ever get back your childhood. Riding your bicycle at 9:30 PM on that longest day in June and then catching a jar full of fireflies, spending snows days sledding, building snow forts and oddly-shaped snowmen, sleeping over (but mostly talking and laughing about the opposite sex) and if, you're lucky enough, feeling wonderfully sick to your stomach and tingly all over during that first teenage romance.
I think good parents can foster an environment where these once-in-a-lifetime experiences can happen as well as serious application to academics, music, sports, and other activities. I'm not saying it's easy, and a child may get off track now and then, but it can be done.
When those 18 years are up, they are over forever. There are no do-overs of childhood; to use another cliche, you cannot go home again. The best you can hope for is that you want to go home again.
If you want to be a pianist in a world-famous orchestra, or an Olympic ice skater, you almost certainly have to give up a good part of your childhood. And for the vast majority of kids, getting into an Ivy League school requires straight A's in hard classes and really good SAT scores. The cost in time, and maybe in peace of mind and soul, can be quite high, though.
Rosebud?