Quick! Call the Cops! Mum's making gravy...

Where is our society headed?

Several weeks ago, I was making a lovely prime rib of beef for Sunday dinner, complete with yorkshire pudding, steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy. My gravy recipe requires a teaspoon of red wine, but I was unable to find the bottle of wine that I had stored in the pantry. I told the kids I was going to the corner store and that I would be right back. My ten year old daughter asked why, and I told her that I was going to purchase a bottle of wine. Her response was, "You can't feed us wine! That's illegal - you'll get us drunk! You know, I can call the police on you." I was stunned and subsequently outraged that my own child would think and feel that way. There have been other instances of my children attempting to take the upper hand - aka; avoiding doing what is asked of them... My older daughter also flatly refuses to pay rent, even though she is working. She told me that I am obligated by law to support her until she reaches the age of nineteen. That is incorrect, but my true point is that she has to help contribute to the family and learn to be a contributing member of society - laws be damned! Another time, I was feeling pushed to my limits dealing with the kids, so instead of taking it out further upon my children, I left and went to a friend's house just up the hill to relax and cool off. My cell phone rang while I was there and it was our local detachment of the RCMP. I was floored when I found out my children had phoned the police and the law said they could charge me with abandonment - what the heck is that all about? (In my own defence, the kids knew where I was, they knew how to contact me, I was gone up the street for a total of two hours and I did promise them I would be back). Society appears to be creeping into our living rooms and snatching away any of the empowerment that we, as parents, require in order to raise and teach our children to look after themselves and become accountable adults. The school system refuses to discipline our future generation (for fear of litigious repercussions) and the students receive no consequences for their actions. Or the teachers simply send a recalcitrant child home for the parent to deal with - in other words, a day off school for said student. The teachers are forced by society to pass the buck and force the parent to cope with an unknown situation - one that the school system should be dealing with themselves. We are not allowed to spank our children, raise our voices to them or oblige them to do anything they don't want to do...eg. homework or household chores. I have a serious problem with this metamorphosis that society is going through. It is threatening our mere existence as responsible adults and the future of our children. Television, the media, internet, video games and any virtual form of communication is further removing everyone from the physical reality of life. Global communication is not all that it's cracked up to be and I believe we are isolating ourselves more than ever as a result. Humans are a herd animal and we will not survive without the rest of the pack. Our future is with our children - it is a simple law of nature. We have to be trusted to be able to nurture, punish, support and raise our own children in a way we see fit.

Or where will our society end up?