respect

A friend on FB posted this today:

“...loves the word "Respect"... Have u ever looked it up? It means " to consider". We want children to respect us, maybe we should consider them! Besides consider is a gentler word:)...and I consider u;)!”

Respect is something that I have been pondering for a while.  You see I have been working on what I want my relationship with my kids to be in these teen years and well on into their adult years.  I have seen parenting that is very controlling where the young person can’t do anything without the parent’s knowledge and consent.  And I have seen parenting become nothing more than a friendship, a “let’s be best friends” type thing with no guidance and a complete free for all, and I don’t want that either.  So what I have come up with at the moment is a relationship of respect.  And so when my friend posted today about respect = to consider, I thought that was a pretty good definition.

So what is this respect relationship going to look like practically?  I am not quite sure yet.  Still ruminating on that one.