Sometimes I fear that when parents learn about 'democratic' parenting they hear, 'be nice' and forget about the rest. This quote by Teddy Roosevelt from a letter written to his son, Kermit, sums up so beautifully how people we love the most can be helped and nourished by firm and kind limits.
“Greatly tho I loved Mother I was at times thoughtless and selfish, and if Mother had been a mere unhealthy Patient Griselda, I might have grown set in selfish and inconsiderate ways. Mother, always tender, gentle and considerate, and always loving, yet when necessary pointed out where I was thoughtless and therefore inconsiderate and selfish, instead of submitting to it. Had she not done this it would in the end have made her life very much harder, and mine very much less happy.”