When my son first started to take the subway, my husband and I used to follow him to make sure he was all right, and then we had to stop following him and let him do it by himself.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
There were so many occasions when I wasn't around for my kids or my husband. But we learnt to work around it.
To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while.
Due to my sometimes erratic behavior, my children tried very hard to avoid me and not do anything to set me off.
We're living in a time when parenting is not at all mirroring the way I was parented. For me, I just followed my parents around on their errands; when they were busy on the phone, I was quiet. It's a different kettle of fish these days: They run the house, and you listen to their music, and you go to their appointments.
We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up.
When I was hitch-hiking, people had to follow me, 'cause I didn't stay long.
I kind of remember when I was young, I used to hang out with my dad sometimes. And I can remember just following him in and out of these domestic situations. Going to the grocery store, we'd go pick up my other brother, or we'd go here, go there.
Never follow somebody else's path; it doesn't work the same way twice for anyone... the path follows you and rolls up behind you as you walk, forcing the next person to find their own way.
Nobody controls me. I travel with my husband when I can, when I know that I can go, and I know that my son is okay alone for a few days with the help.
My theory is children don't do what you tell them to do, they do what you do. You have to always do the right thing because they follow you.