For those with children: Do you think you’re a better parent than your parents were?

[Coochie liquor]

Hard to say. But I had way too much freedom as a kid and it got me into lots of trouble, and lots of hanging with the wrong people. It’s crazy to think back to some of the shit that seemed normal back then because of the circles we hung in. My kids didn’t get that kinda long leash. Neither my wife or I graduated high school. We made sure the girls did, and our son would have had he not passed. But losing a kid kinda murks up my thoughts on it. Because as ****ed as my childhood was, my parents didn’t lose a kid. So it’s a toss up to me.

[Bugeater]

My mom was pretty awesome now that I think about it. I think I did well tho, just not as good as she was.

[Katipan]

After I came home from my first EDM show I was all sorts of excited. I told my dude how impressed I was with the current crop of 20 year olds. All the girls were hot and naked and the boys didn’t care.

My dude laughed and said “oh no, they still care. They’ve just been taught they can’t be gross about it anymore.”

I nurture 20 year olds. The generation we’re in doesn’t make you an old fart. You make you an old fart.

[stevieray]

It's all relative, no pun intended.

Too many variables to make comparisons.

The best thing you can do as a parent (if possible) is LOVE your spouse. Men should always love their wives first.

Love is a verb and actions always speak louder than words.

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Honestly, not really.

Grew up in a divorced family. They declared joint custody so my sister and I were bouncing between Mom and Dad's house every 2 days or so. Mom and Dad would try subtle things to get us to hate the other parent. Wasn't very fun. Mom was ultra paranoid and Dad was just emotionally absent. I spent my teenage and young adult years thinking I'd do way better than them, that I'd be the change in the family.

Lo and behold, I end up breaking up with the mother of my child and moving out, just like my parents did. Thankfully we never got married and we're still friends, so there's some improvement, but the feeling of failure doesn't go away.

Now I think back and realize how tough it must've been on Mom and Dad, trying to navigate the divorce and still be good for my sister and I. They weren't perfect by any means, but they definitely tried, and we turned out okay.

Turns out, it's really hard being a good parent, and I'm still figuring it out as I go. Trying to put your all into being a good Dad, holding down a full time job, and trying to live a life of your own. I don't know how anyone does it.

[trndobrd]

My kids are too young (teens) to know how they will turn out…but so far so good.

To say I am a “better parent” would be an unfair comparison given the vastly different circumstances of having kids at 19 vs late 30’s. I was more deliberate about getting established, getting married, then having kids. My parents went in the reverse order. But….they stayed married, emphasized good grades (college was never considered growing up), hard work, and we always had a roof over our heads. My Mom graduated HS, my Dad did not, but both were voracious readers, mostly westerns and romance novels…the example of seeing my parents reading all the time stuck with me.

I set better conditions for my kids (graduate degree, career, married 4 years before kids etc.) and more experience in life than my parents. But I cannot say I would have done better if I had their starting hand.