We put our child in charge for a day – it was both terrifying and freeing
by Donna Ferguson from Science | The Guardian on (#5QT7G)
One day a year our daughter does as she pleases and it's always great fun... and a good education for us all
We call it her in-charge day". A day when our nine-year-old daughter Flora is in charge, and we are, effectively, hers to command. A day when all the traditional hierarchies between parent and child are reversed, when she can fulfil her fantasies, refuse to do anything she doesn't want to and experience a taste of power, authority and absolute freedom.
OK, not absolute freedom. There are some ground rules. She can't do anything we deem to be unsafe or illegal. She can't ask us to buy anything too expensive" (we keep this part deliberately vague). And, this year, we realised we needed to add one more sentence of small print to our contract: she cannot purchase any new pets.
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