[LitFan]

From the tone of your comment it sounds like you think conflict is bad.

As a bit of a sidebar:

It's the parent's job to teach a child how to live a healthy lifestyle as an adult.

It's impossible to live a healthy lifestyle while doing only one activity, because there are many things that need doing around your house, or in your life, as an adult that most people won't have someone doing for them.

A parent's goals will conflict with a child's goals - the child lacks the wisdom the adult has gained over their lifetime, and as a result doesn't understand what they need to work on to become a functioning adult. At the same time, the child should challenge the adult's authority frequently - in order to discover the boundaries of their behavior. This has the additional benefit of giving the adult a lens through which to evaluate their own behavior.

I've learned more about myself and tempering my behavior from interacting with my daughter in the last 2 years than I had in the ten years before she was born. I hope that as a result, I'm a better parent now than I would have been ten or even two years ago.

On topic:

I agree with the GP - too much of any one activity is no good. Everyone needs to learn that there's a time and a place for each activity, and that there are many things important to keep us happy and healthy.

[weavie]

Thanks. That's very well put.

Parenting can be real tough when your goals conflict. It's a real help to bear in mind that that is a normal part of the process.