My daughter worked 3 jobs as a young lady. A waitress, a weekly contributor for the local newspaper and, much to the amusment of her skin-deep school chums, a janitors helper at the school. While she was earning an honest dollar cleaning toilets and scraping gum off desks her “fashionable” friends would snicker and giggle. She saved 80% of every paycheque. In addition she volunteered at the local SPCA at was regularly seen about town catching stray cats and other sick animals and taking them in to be cared for.

If she was caught anywhere near a convenience store to hang out with friends…..well lets just say ……lets not go there!!. Her homework was reviewed on a daily basis. Her wardrobe was subject to censorship, in other words she wasn’t allowed to dress like a whore. She wasn’t allowed to wear make-up or date until she was 17. When she was out in the day or in the evening we knew who her friends were, where her friends lived, who their parents were and exactly where she was going…..and we regularly paid her a “surprise” visit. She was always home before 9 pm and in bed and asleep before 10 pm. She was not allowed to have a computer and certainly not a telephone in her bedroom. She never had a cell phone (please!! don’t make me laugh…a child with a cell phone….!!!) Her use of the house phone was limited….as I would always say “a telephone is a tool…not a toy”

She would never speak to anyone without saying “yes please” or “no thank you”….her elders were referred to as “Ma’am” or “Sir”. God help her if she was ever rude or disrespectful to either her mother or me. She ate everything on her plate and would not dream of complaining. Her room was kept clean (that was a real battle) and her chores around the house would be done without fail.

Above all she knew she was a child and not an adult. She knew her place in the house and she also knew she was loved. But she knew, clearly, where the boundaries were and how not even God himself could help her if she decided to get “creative” with the rules.

She was allowed to get a drivers licence but her driving record was checked monthly and she knew we would pull her licence if she received so much as a parking ticket.

As parents we were not concerned with what the politically correct social workers and teachers thought. We could care less about the latest polls on television and the babblings of fools like Oprah and every other media “talking head” had no place in the raising of our daughter. We were not concerned about her “rights” or her “empowerment” or her “blossoming spirit” or any of that other new-age double talk. We told her many times, “when you start paying the rent then you can be as empowered as you like”. We raised her with commonsense, love and an iron hand.

In return we have a beautiful, law abiding young woman who married a hard working young man. They purchased an acreage outside a national park with a view of the mountains and have been recently blessed with a son. They have chickens and a herd of adopted stray dogs and cats. She started her own pet grooming business has never looked back.

She was a gift and a responsiblity. She has no regrets and neither do we.

As for me… I am an ill tempered old bastard and a very proud father. ( and grandfather!!)