The Child In Between; Example of Why Parents Should Work Together

I hear it all the time, mom's mean, dad's nice (or vise versa). Its seems just from observation that this child often turns to the stricter parent for their needs and the more lienant one for their wants. These actions and different parenting skills may cause stress a stressful relationship between parents and even worse make for a confused child. Recently in class we discussed the variety of types of parenting. While going over the qualities and outcomes of each, I couldn't help but think of how times have changed. Moms and dads don't seem to work together as well as previous years. Remember when the phrases "talk to your dad," or "I'll discuss it with mom" were common? For whatever reason (parents time away from home for work, a mother too young) parents don't tend to have the same skills and values; they don't seem to work as a team. As an example, if you have one authoritive parent and one Permissive parent, what are the childs outcomes going to be? This child may take on the traits of both, playing both sides. Asking the permissive, more lienant parent for favors and permission because they know the answer will be yes. Yet they have a high self esteem, and achieve academically making the parents proud; traits of authoritive parenting. But the child can turn rebellious and disobedient, when things do not go their way. In return one parent tries to punish the child for their behavior while the other believes their child is just being a kid, its just a phase. The possibilities and confusions are endless. This leaves me to empasize children are smart and will paly the parents against each other, creating a very long and stresful 18 years for the entire family. Mom and dad need to work with each other to save their sanity and help keep their marriage/relationship and family prosperous.