If none of this were true, I'd be a successful novelist

One of the most annoying and aggravating things I can think of is the fact that parents are afraid of their children.

They simply do not want their kids to dislike them or be different, so they cave in and medicate.

Tonight at work, I witnessed this entire scene and played part.

Two kids, approximately 11, are walking with their mother while they shop for groceries. The two boys' heads turn and glimpse the pizza.

"Pizza!!!" one of them yells (yells, in the middle of the store).
"No pizza," says the mother.
The boy continues to walk rapdily over to the glass area. He will not take no for an answer. "Pizza!!!" seems to be the only word in his vocabulary.
The mother walks over, following the boy and sighs. The other boy is in tow. First sign of weakness.
Second sign of weakness: "Okay, what kind do you want?"
"Cheese!!" Okay, two words in his lexicon, but only one volume of speech has been learned.
"One slice of cheese pizza, please," the mother says to me. I begin to comply.
"No, two!!" Four words. He's a quick learner.
The mother sighs, "Okay, two slices."
For someone who did not want their child to have any pizza whatsoever, she sure went to two slices pretty quickly.

This illustrates my point perfectly that parents don't want their kids to be unhappy with them. They want to be their kids' friends. Being friendly with your children is one thing, but that does not equal good parenting. In their eyes, good parenting means that their kids will like them at all times. But it's not. It's doing what's best for them. And I'm pretty sure caving into getting them two slices of cheese pizza is not.

By indulging her child like that, she's set a precedent that will be remembered, consciously or otherwise, by that child. She spoils him now, he's going to expect it and it makes it harder for the parent to resist that child, especially because she doesn't want to make him unhappy.

My point is this: whenever I have children, I am going to punch them daily.