Yes, parenting is a task that should be taken seriously.
In light of your comment, I think I'd better explain that one-liner.
Like many other things in our lives, using that line is a matter of timing. The statement should not come early in the discussion, it should come very late (if at all). First, one will usually engage in some degree of discussion of the issue.
However, the discussion involves a person with developed judgment and one whose judgment is under development. The learning party selects from its inadequate array, the tools it believes will allow it to have its way. A prominent tool in such circumstances is the allegation "That's not fair!". This is often followed by an illustration of the unfairness. You know, intellectual things like, "Tommy's mother let's him do it."
It is probably not wise to cast aspersions on Tommy's mother's judgment, nor are such assertions usually compelling to the learning party, anyway. Instead, one must present the parental view with wisdom and understanding. When, after having applied all the resources at the parent's command and encountered a less than enthusiastic response, it is sometimes necessary to fire the big gun.
This approach did not, in my experience, silence my offspring. Quite the contrary.
Fred
