I enjoy this column called the last word in Parenting magazine.  Thought I would share…………………..


A Parent’s Bill of Rights


Whereas you have chosen to perpetuate the human species, and to then cohabitate with your offspring, you have surrendered many natural rights.  However, you are hereby entitled to the following, arising specifically from your situation:


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to serve last night’s dinner for breakfast, even if it’s pizza, if the masses so demand.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to abandon most household rules when you 2 yr old says “please”.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to toss out select pieces of your child’s artwork, including the masterpiece of paint spilled on the phone list.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to stir cough syrup into apple juice, to sprinkle ground cold tabs onto peanut butter and jelly, to mix children’s laxative with soda – and to feign innocence when caught.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to close your eyes and trail off to a mumble during the fifth bedtime book.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to insist that your child’s preschool allow her to throw away uneaten portion of her yogurt rather than send it back home in her lunch box.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to start you children’s nap time early when the 5 yr old threatens to chop off the 2 yrs old head.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to weep uncontrollable at the commercial with the girl reading the Braille fast-food menu.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to eat any vegetable dipped in ketchup to convince your child of it’s culinary qualities. 


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT  to stay up until midnight talking with an adult even when you need the sleep.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT  to forgive anything with a bedtime hug.


YOUR HAVE THE RIGHT to endure sleeplessness, hopelessness, embarrassment, endless colds, loss of dignity, loss of privacy and aimlessness……and to want to do it all over again.


Parenting Magazine – October 2001

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