What differences do you find are different from our parenting to parenting from our parents and their parents?

Do you find that maybe we are more lax than they were?

I'm not a parent yet....in the process of trying ..... but I think I know what you mean.

I actually think it's a case of people don't want to repeat the 'mistakes' they feel their parents made with them. For example, my Mum has let me pursue my education, when she wasn't allowed. I on the other hand will allow mychild to make mistakes instead of continually being told 'you'll get it wrong' like my Mum did to me. It's an evolution, eventually, one generation will get it righ, but until then we're each trying it in our own way......

Speaking as a non parent, I hope this makes sense and I'm not talking gibberish

I am fairly the same, except the big difference these days, is that when I was in kindergarten, I walked alone to school. But, now, that is practically child abuse. I also used to get left in the car while my parents shopped. Things that were OK back then, but no one does now.

Made perfect sense

Gosh, I remember those times too of walking to school at that age, being left in the car while my parents shopped, etc. No way in hell I'd do that now with the creeps out there nowadays.

I guess perhaps we might be stricter in other ways, and perhaps a bit more lenient in others.

My parents are totally different to me and my OH.

They ruled with an iron fist, and believed children should be smacked. OH and I don't.

They believe that women should stay at home and raise a family, OH and I don't.

In fact, the biggest bone of contention is that we're sending Niamh to boarding school when she's 12, they are horrified.

I think my parents did a pretty good job on us.. there are definitely no perfect parents or perfect children though! Areas I'd like to IMPROVE ON I guess you could say would be:

Childcare- I went to a babysitter my whole life (until I was 11 or 12) Monday to Friday.. sometimes just a couple hours after school, but when I was younger it was whatever shift my mom worked plus travel time, so 2-11:30, etc. I wish I had spent more of those hours with my parents, as much as I love my old babysitter.. I don't want that for my child.

Discipline- My parents weren't very strict with us. I feel like they were when I was a preteen/young teenager, but now that we're all older than that.. I'm an adult, so they can't say much really but my sister is WILD.. I don't want my daughter to be anything like her.

Relationship- I was never close with either of my parents. I am with my mom now that I'm having a child.. but my brother and sister aren't close with my parents either. We never talked much about important things, my parents never tell us they love us, etc. I know they do, but it's weird that they never say it, or hug us or anything. All my friends' parents do?

I don't think there is an increase in creeps, just that we are made more aware of it through the media.

When Maddie McCann went missing there was a huge focus on how dangerous our world is now for children. It has always been dangerous. When I was 3 I was snatched from a beach in spain by a man, but thankfully found very quickly before he had time to get me to his car.

That was over 20 years ago.

I think I'll be more likely to see what my parents did that I didn't like, or didn't seem to work well and go from there..

Like Tasha - although I knew my parents loved me, it wasn't exactly something you would show. No kisses or hugs before bedtime much, no "i love yous" or anything like that. So I definitely want to do that with my children.

My dad was horribly anal regarding hair dye, nailpolish, makeup, etc. If I do get lucky enough to get a little girl some day, I don't want to be like him where he wouldn't let me do any of those things until I was in grade 9....

And I DO NOT want to be like OH'S parents.. my god. Those kids were on schedules til they hit HIGH SCHOOL....... give me a break! (no offense to anyone else, but this just isn't my thing.)

I see myself doing things that my parents did that I said i would never do LOL
but i think at the same time me and DH are very different to my parents. DH and I were brought up very differently and I have adopted a lot of his way of doing things because I think that a lot of how he grew up appeals to me more.