The Princess Syndrome

With hindsight, it was easier to have six than one. Having “half a dozen unassorted”, as one doctor described them, (i.e. six daughters) turned out to be a blessing for them, and for us as parents. The girls had to learn to share, cooperate and compromise.

We told them they could have an “attitude” when they became a teenager. If they displayed an attitude after their 13th birthday we told them they missed their chance. It was on the day they turned 13 they could have an attitude. After that  was too late. With six, you set patterns and the others tend to follow with only the odd break out attempt.  In our family there was the famous dummy spit over a school bag. It is memorable because it was a rare event.   So the patterns went like this: “It is our family rule that we know who is supervising…