“If you’ve never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent.” – Bette Davis
“I am your father, not your friend.” My response to my then five-year-old telling me I was no longer his BFF. And we’ve had a loving and good relationship, except when I enforce the boundaries and rules and he gets mad, because it is the right thing that will make him a better human.
Tough love is critical for the development of the next generation, be it at work or in the home. If there are not rules that are enforced, there is a deterioration into a Lord of The Flies situation. Rules are what make us civilized, and violation of the rules needs to bear a penalty or else the rules are useless and we have chaos.
I hated my parents for enforcing rules that ultimately made me a much better person. I now thank them for having high standards and enforcing them, because all teenagers are idiots and think we know better. It is the responsibility of the authority figure (parent, boss, etc.) to give us rules and enforce them to protect us from our over-hormonal selves and create guidances we can use to excel over time.
If they haven’t hated you at times, you aren’t doing your job to protect and grow your kids into the people they should become.