Parents - No Longer Required

When I was a child, my father taught me, I believe, everything I needed to get by in life. Admittedly, as a girl, I could have used a woman's influence more than I had. I gave up ballet for third base, and to this day I would rather work on cars than do laundry. Maybe I swear too much, and perhaps I could be a little softer in my opinions, but for the most part, my father and brothers did their best.

I appreciate everything they did for me. They kept me safe, clothed and fed me, and taught me right from wrong. Honestly, they were much harder on me than any mother would ever have been. I don't mean to imply I had no mother growing up. My parents were married until my mother's death in 2004, but she had problems and so it fell to the male members of my family to raise me. They did, I think, an admirable job. I couldn't have asked for anything more. All three of them were my parents, my teachers, my mentors.

When I had kids of my own, I took what those men did for me, and I applied it in the raising of my children. Every aspect of their lives falls to me to oversee. Their schooling, their social lives, and everything in between. I cook every meal they eat (except special occasions when we eat out), I make sure they are dressed properly, they're given everything they need, that their manners are correct, and that they're polite, intelligent, well read and well spoken. Is that not the job of a parent?

Apparently not. You see, no matter what decisions we, as parents, make, the almighty government isn't satisfied. They have to control your lives. From the time of birth, the government has a hand in every part of your child's life. First by forcing your children into government and union run schools, aka free babysitters, so they exit high school as little more than morons. These self-same automatons go on to college, filled with the thoughts of their liberal teachers, and not common sense approaches to living life simply and decently. Parents are no longer needed to teach their kids values. For decades, parents are given a free ride on parenting. Why should they bother?

These kids are taught that their own actions are subject to various blame games, that they're special and, when their poor decisions are met with failure on top of failure, the brain dead liberals tell these mentally stunted pseudo adults that it's the fault of "the man" trying to keep them down. Vote Democrat! We're your family, your mentors, and your friends. Your choice of a major in liberal arts in college, which renders you mostly unemployable in this economy, isn't your fault. Liberal arts is a fine choice in life. Now you can become a teacher, perpetuating the long line of drooling idiots.

But it doesn't end there. Now that you're a teacher, albeit a poor one, you can't be fired. You can call a student any derogatory name, and you don't have to worry about losing your job.

If however, you're unemployed, for whatever reason, don't worry. You get 99 weeks of unemployment so you can sit on your duff and do nothing. What a sweet deal. Oh, your unemployment benefits are about to run out after almost TWO YEARS? Don't worry, your democratic lawmakers will just extend it. Can't pay your mortgage on a house you should never have owned? That's ok, they've got that covered, too. No health insurance? Not a problem, we'll give you that, too. Food stamps, welfare, medicaid, aid to dependent children, WIC. Hell, the government has you covered from the cradle to the grave, and you never have to lift a finger.

I have an 18 year old, a 12 year old, and a 6 year old. I've dealt with all the ages of childhood now. I listen to other mothers, whose children are shooting H or smoking meth, breaking into houses, vandalizing property, "I just don't know what to do with him. I don't even know him anymore." And as much as I don't want to cause them any more pain, I can't help but tell them the truth. "You never knew him. When little Johnny was a week old, you put him in daycare so you could further your "career". At three and four, it was preschool, at 5, kindergarten, at 12 middle school, and by the time he was 18, your "career" was on the upswing while your child was on the downlow. Sure, when he was little, he may have earned Student of the Month, but you didn't bother to show up to the ceremony honoring him. You spent his entire school play on your smartphone while he pranced around on stage as the cowardly lion. Every night of the week, you ordered takeout because you were just too tired to cook after a gruelling day at work. So yeah, you never knew your child. Had you bothered to ask a more involved parent, they would have told you your child has been going downhill since fifth grade."

But don't despair, folks. The government has this one, too. Jail time for Johnny.

Being a parent isn't a part time job. It means a lifetime of overtime. It means having a child throw up on you, talking incessantly, working with the flu, doctor's appointments, sporting events, birthdays, Christmases that break the bank, cleaning nonstop, wiping butts, changing diapers, midnight feedings, sleep deprivation, a war zone in your home, stepping on toys, feeding the pets the kids "promised" to take care of, being chief cook and bottle washer, chauffeur, coach, teacher, tea party guest, and a whole host of other jobs, all unpaid. And there is no better job on earth.

But parents, you're no longer needed. Big brother has all this covered. Guess someone forgot to inform me. Apparently, I could have been sleeping more than 5 hours a night these past 18 years. Who knew?