Each generation is shaped by what the previous generation believes is the best way to raise children.
Most parents do what they believe is best for their children, but it’s impossible to predict what effect these choices will have over time. Without a doubt, someone in the future will look back at some of the common practices and say, “What were they thinking?”
It is easy to criticize someone else’s choices, but what if they were doing the best they could with the knowledge they had? If you had the same knowledge and experience, would you really have made a different choice?
What is the lesson? Make your decisions and choices in good faith, but recognize that some decisions will seem foolish later. Before you judge someone else’s choices, imagine yourself in their shoes.
Have you ever made a decision that seemed sensible at the time, but outlandish in hindsight?
For me this has been a massive lesson. I grew up believing in clear cut rights and wrongs. Science, leaders, teachers, parents all being right.
There aren’t even the same number of planets now as when I went to school. And I’ve no idea how many times “scientific” theories and beliefs have been completely smashed apart with an expanded view.
I remember arguing with my old football manager as he told me to hold my breath at the end of demanding drill. I thought I knew best and that CO2 was bad and a waste product and what did he know. 10 years later I read about the buteyko method …
The more I learn, the less I know.