Scripture instructs fathers not to provoke their children to wrath (Colossians 3:21). God uses the balance between the mothers' lenient tendency and the fathers' strict tendency to demonstrate his love and judgement. If either one of these parallel tracks is over emphasized there will be a train wreck in the children's lives.
A child's rebellion becomes more intensified if the restrictions create a feeling of hopelessness. Grounding a child from activities for more than three or four days feels like an eternity to the child. The idea behind restrictions is correction, not revenge.
A child's rebellion becomes equally intensified if restrictions do not occur or if the parent continually makes exceptions. Balanced correction produces incentive to not repeat the act. Anything out of balance only increases the rebellion.
