Re: Do we romanticize the impact of parenting?

As an agent of socialization, I'd say that parenting has a very important role in the beginnings of our upbringing. Our parent(s) are the first introduction to our language, our societies moral value structure, our views on the outside world, and even the very basis of much of the beginning knowledge we hold today. They are our first teachers and mentors, and while as we grew, we become less dependent on they're knowledge, they provide invaluable tools of learning and tidbits of ancestral knowledge that you rarely can learn anywhere else. Without parents, who would teach us how to bake cookies in a cold holiday season? Or who would teach us the proper way to fold linens? Who would teach us how to fix a car engine or how to properly use a hacksaw? If anything, I don't think many people respect the importance and the impact our parents have on us.