I watched Oprah today. And there was this guy, Rabbi Shmutley (or something like that) who is the host af a reality show, "Shalom In The House", who specialises in bringing peace into homes of families hit by a crisis or crises.

And while he was dispensing his advice to this family, and to the viewers alike, something he said hit me. Hard.

"Your kids will have plenty of friends. But they will only have one father and one mother. So step up and be that parent!"

It seemed like he was encouraging parents to become authority figures and disciplinarians and stop at that. Now, if he did suggest that, I have to disagree.

I'd rather have parents whom I respect and whom I can be friends with, all at the same time. And I am extremely lucky to have that.

I can't imagine having parents who are disconnected from me, as a person. I can't imagine being scared to talk to my parents about just about anything.

You see, if my parents are like that, I wouldn't have these luxuries. I wouldn't have been given the freedom to choose what I want to do with my life or the freedom to choose my friends or the iPod that I want or anything else. In a nutshell, I might have to ask permission to even talk.

But then again, I can't say much about parenting as I don't have the experience...yet. But when I do, I want my kids to respect me and be my friends, all at the same time.