"Almost nobody has a plan for how they're going to raise their kids. What they have, instead, is a series of promises about how they won't raise them. We see shrieking kids running around a restaurant or throwing shit-covered cats off of the neighbor's roof while Mom talks on her cell phone, and we promise ourselves we won't be that parent.

But when you actually become a parent, you realize that you were imagining a theoretical perfect child that you can grow like a plant -- just dump the right amount of water and shit on it and he'll be fine. In reality, kids have a way of making you look like an asshole. And all of those bold declarations will turn into a series of complicated compromises. Like ..."

I don't know a single person with kids, or even a lot of my friends without kids, who has never said "I'm never going to let my child do that." Oh hell, I've said it at least a hundred times. I haven't said it in a while though, and after reading this article, I've got a bit of a new perspective. How about you parents? Have you ever said "I'm never going to let my child do that" and stuck with it? Have you changed your mind as time went on? Anybody without (or even with) kids rethinking their stance on the phrase? less