What do you wish your well-meaning parents would have known when you were growing up?

Trying to shelter me by any means necessary – verbal abuse, physical abuse, belting, hair pulling, hitting, etc— only made me a better liar and taught me it’s better to sneak out and stay out than stay home.

But it’s made me hyper independent and I swore I would never hit my kids.

It’s also given them the opportunity to reflect on their stance of raising children in fear rather than with love.