She’s a more permissive parent — and it’s tearing us apart
My cousin Chavi and I live in the same community. Over the years, we’ve become much more friendly because of our kids; her oldest two girls are in high school with my middle daughters and they’re all close friends.
Lately, though, things have become very uncomfortable. Chavi’s parenting style is much looser and more permissive than mine. Not irresponsible, just looser. Even when they were preteens, she allowed her daughters to do things and go places that my husband and I weren’t comfortable with our daughters doing/going to. Not hashkafically, but safety-wise.
I understand that many things depend on the girls themselves, and their maturity and responsibility level, but here we’re discussing typical American teenagers who are all more or less on the same level of responsibility and maturity. The main factor is simply parenting styles.
But the fallout is impacting our friendship. Our two families are very intertwined, and our daughters are having a hard time finding a middle ground when they want to do something together. Days off, Sundays, winter vacation, summer vacation — my daughters want to make plans with their friends/cousins and it always becomes contentious.
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