Privacy

Dear Diary

Today I want to talk about privacy, how much privacy do we give our children without giving up control  of our homes and abdicating our responsibilities as parents. I started to think about this recently when my daughter challenged me about going into her room when she was not home.  She accused me of invading her privacy and not respecting her space. My first reaction was an angry one and I said all the usual things with eyes bulging and frothing at the mouth...who do you think you are? this is my house and I will go anywhere I please, since you are not paying rent you don't have any 'space' that can be invaded! You know all the usual stuff we parents say in these situations.

But that incident stayed with me and I have been thinking about it a lot. I try to teach my children to be respectful of other people, their feelings, their possessions, their space, but am I guilty of failing to give my daughter the respect that I insist that she give me? Does the fact that she is a minor who is dependent on me mean that she is not to be afforded the respect that I would give to a stranger? As a parent where do you draw the line?

This is  a  difficult one, I will have to think on it some more.