I found these tips in a 1981 newsletter from my high school.

It’s amazes me! A) I had kept this piece of paper for 30 years and b) that the parenting tips of yesteryear are not too off base from what I hear in the parent education community today.

We always need to tweak a little to suit our styles…but… What do you think? Did your parents raise you with these tips? Have we learned anything different or better about parenting in the past 30 years?

“Your Child will Appreciate Fair but Firm Discipline” – P.T.A. press

-Don’t be afraid to be firm with me. I prefer it; it makes me feel secure.

-Don’t let me form bad habits. I have to rely on you to detect then in the early stages.

-Don’t make me feel smaller than I am. It only make me behave stupidly ‘big’.

-Don’t correct me in front of people if you can help it. I’ll take much more notice if you talk quietly in private.

-Don’t protect me from consequences. I need to learn the painful way sometimes.

-Don’t make me feel my mistakes are sins. It upsets my sense of values.

-Don’t be too upset when I say ‘I hate you’. It isn’t you I hate, but your power to thwart me.

-Don’t take too much notice of smaller ailments. Sometimes they get me the attention I need.

-Don’t nag. If you do , I shall have to protect myself by appearing deaf.

-Don’t make rash promises. I feel bad if you let me down when promises re broken.

-Don’t forget that I can not explain myself as welt as I should like. This is what I’m not always very accurate.

-Don’t tax my honesty too much. I’m easily frightened into telling lies.

-Don’t be inconsistent. It completely confuses me and makes me lose faith in you.

-Don’t put me off when I ask questions. If you do, you will find I stop asking and seek information elsewhere.

-Don’t tell me my fears are silly. They are terribly real.

-Don’t ever think it is beneath your dignity to apologize to me. An honest apology makes me surprisingly warm toward you.

-Don’t ever suggest that you are perfect or infallible. It gives me too great a shock when I discover that you are neither.

-Don’t forget how quickly I am growing up. It must be difficult to keep pace with me, but please try.