It used to be a joke in the Carter household. “I used to say, ‘Oh, the kids are in charge, my husband and I do as we’re told,’ like it was funny,” says Auckland mum-of-three Wendy. “And then I realised it wasn’t a joke, it was true, and it wasn’t funny.”
By the time her kids were teenagers, she got fed up with her son and daughters always calling the shots.
“It was completely our fault, we had let them get away with dictating what activities we did, how the weekends were spent, when they would be collected from various events, how much time their friends could spend at our place, even what we ate and when. It was all about them,” she tells.
It’s an easy trap to fall into. When you have children, life tends to revolve around them, which is usually a good thing.
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