Kaden Khau 12 - Powerful Parents

Kaden Khau 12 - Powerful Parents

February 26, 2025

I have always viewed parents as something loving and they always wants the best for you. This was my support for their reasons being portrayed as "controlling" or "strict." But I do think it is for a reason, and that reason was definitely not without purpose and just them abusing their authority. But as I grew up, I realized their power is like a double-edged sword, even when they wield it love.

Power is definitely a prominent part of a family dynamic and complex. They hold authority over their children, shaping their values, futures, and choices. Their power can be a protective force, providing their children with the safety and guidance through all the chaos in the world. But it can also be a harmful force of a controlling and ill-witted that can stifle independence and impose expectations that might not align with their children's true values.

But the tricky part is deciding what is best for their child, and if that choice aligns with their child's best interest. The line of protection and control is the hardest part of deciding the parents power and control, and power, even fueled by love, is still power and if left unchecked, can shape lives that may not always beneficial.

This is why it is crucial to realize the dynamics within the family and build strong connections with your parents and communicate with them. Children grow, and with growth comes the need for guidance and autonomy. Parent's have to learn to loosen their grip on their children and trust the lessons they have learned within their life and support them throughout their life and provide guidance. Power their control and strictness is not always the way to help you child the most and speaking with them about it is the best way to help them.
Image by The Swaddle

Comments

  1. Raghav DagaMarch 3, 2025 at 12:47 PM

    Hey Kaden! Your blog really connected with the thoughts that I had after reading Everything I Never Told You, and I think that the complexities you addressed with parenting in your blog are accurate to the limitations that parents face in the real world as well. It is true that almost all parents wish the best for their children and hope to provide them with the most successful life and future, but sometimes this ends up coming at the cost of their relationship with their children and this is a difficult balance to strike. Parents often force their children into what they perceive is best for them without ever spending time on explaining why they hold such a belief, creating a gap between parents and their children. This was one of the key dividing factors within the Lee family, where each of the parents wished the best upon their children but ultimately failed to communicate why they held those beliefs. I really enjoyed your image of “wielding with love,” where you aptly recognize the power that parents have over their children and their lives, but how their intentions tend to be pure as they exercise their power. As we all grow closer to being adults and moving on to college or our own independent lives, your concluding message of parents loosening their grip really connected with me, and I strongly believe that your blog is something all parents should have an opportunity to read.

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  2. Anika SahaniMarch 5, 2025 at 11:08 AM

    Hi Kaden! I found your blog to be quite interesting, especially since I have been binging one of my favorite television shows recently, Modern Family. Modern Family explores familial dynamics between three nuclear families, which are connected in a large extended family, and there are several key examples of the power that parents exert upon their children in this. Gloria barely exerts any authoritarian power over her son Manny, and instead encourages him to do whatever he would like, resulting in him doing things which he looked back on in shame. However, Claire attempted to exert too much power over her daughter Haley, trying so hard to make her different from how Claire was in her childhood that they ended up exactly the same. I never really gave much thought to these comparisons, though, until I read your blog.

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  3. Emerly LeeMarch 5, 2025 at 6:18 PM

    Hey Kaden, while reading your blog post, I thought it was really interesting how you compared parenting to a double-edged sword. This is something I heavily agree with because a lot of times parents’ idea of what is best for a child might be said with the best intention, but can often silence the child from expressing their own thoughts and feelings. Being Asian especially, I have a lot of friends who tell me about how strict their parents are with the path that they are allowed to take with their career. Thus, they take all the APs they can, applying to as many summer programs, or internships, while forgetting that their children’s experiences and learning how to live in the real world are not something you can get through just that alone. My parents, after my two older siblings, had relaxed a lot especially when it came down to my choices in pursuit. I was allowed to try out new things, go out and explore, and thus I was able to meet a lot of cool people that I wouldn’t have met if I just shoved my face in a text book all my life. While I don’t inherently think prioritizing school and education is a bad thing, I think parents should allow their children some free will while they are still young to foster creativity and hobbies outside of the academic world.

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