And really, how should a 9-year old behave? He’s considerate and gentle with younger kids. He loves to play, wrestle, and compete in sports. He’s polite, a mediocre reader, curious, generally happy, and innocent. He’s great; yet I’m still a worry wart. When he’s too well-behaved, I worry that something’s wrong with him. When he’s not so well-behaved, I wonder if I’m the one doing something wrong. Every day I have a battle with myself about how to do the best I can for him. I don’t want him to be a robot. I don’t want to be a Nazi father. I rarely punish him because he rarely does anything that merits punishing. But am I giving him too much liberty? And just how much liberty should a boy have?
