Thanks Rhabbi and WB....

Glad to know others agree. Don't know how many times i have been called down by other parents for doing what the counselor told me to do! (Almost didn't post for the exact reason.)

That counselor also told me something that i use to this day...

"You am not here to be your child's best friend. You are here to make sure they are raised to be productive, functioning, rational, caring and most importantly loving individuals. And with that in mind... if you are not told at least once a day by your child(ren) that they dislike/hate you in some fashion or that you are mean then you are NOT doing your job as a parent and not setting the limits needed to accomplish the above."

(Had to REALLY keep that in mind as a compliment this weekend when my son wrote "i hate mom and dad" on his hand in permanent marker. Think i accomplished the goal twice that day since he actually took the time to write it out... lol.)