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Anybody who writes off parenting as not a real job, well, I’d like them see them say that to their parents’ faces. Let’s think for a second of the jobs they do see as “real jobs” like doctors or accountants or software engineers. You know who got those professionals to a place where they were smart, confident, competent, compassionate, and, oh, you know, alive enough to do their work? Their parents. Every single parent is, in their own way, a parent of our society at large. That’s how I see it. Being a parent is one of the biggest responsibilities in the world. When someone is really bad, what’s the first thing we ask? “What were the parents like?” or “Where did the parents go wrong?” If we’re so willing to assign blame to the parents when someone messes up, then why aren’t we as quick to give credit to them when their kids grow up to be great? However somebody turns out, the parents played a role. Even if the parents were absent, that fact played a role – a big one, to be sure. The second you have a child, you are responsible for what that human goes on to do with his or her life. That does include if your kid grows up to be, well, a jerk. I’ve known a lot of narcissists in my time and, when I’ve seen how their parents interact with them, I’ve often had an ah-ha moment. I see where this started. On that note, here is how to not raise a narcissist.
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Let him start from the bottom at least once
Even if you have friends or family who are happy to make him a bartender or server at their restaurant right away, let him be a bar back or busboy first. If you have friends willing to let him skip some steps at their company, insist he at least intern or be an assistant/coffee runner for a bit. Don’t set him up to believe he is somehow better than those who must start from the bottom.
