You think it’d be pretty non-controversial. Over on the Daily Dad Instagram (you should follow us!) we’ll post something about having fewer opinions and judgements when it comes to your kids. We’ll talk about loving them unconditionally–even when you don’t understand, even when you disagree. We’ll put up a video about letting your kids be who they are, not trying to make them into something you think they should be.

…and low and behold, some parent–and to be honest, it’s almost always a man–will find a way to have a negative opinion about that. They’ll find a way to disagree. They’ll let us know that their kids don’t know who they are, aren’t smart or mature enough to make decisions like that. It’s never said nicely. There’s never any nuance to their comments. And they just have to let you know that they know better.

If these folks can’t hold themselves back from arguing on the internet, imagine what it must be like to be their legal dependent! Imagine what it must be like to legally be in their custody! The power they have as a parent has so corrupted them, they think they can lecture everyone else! And they certainly can’t let anyone else be more right than them!

We’ve talked before about examples of kids who fled their parents houses as soon as they could. Lincoln was one such example. John Jay O’Connor was another. The comedian Garry Shandling was another. Their parents lacked a soft touch, they lacked self-control, they couldn’t help themselves, they were the opposite of Jim Valvano’s father in that instead of rooting for their kids, they were instead interfering, judging, demeaning, one-upping, lording themselves over.

That’s not who your kids want you to be. It’s not who you should want to be.

So don’t. So stop it.