i was afraid i would screw up my kids for the same reason. i tried my best NOT to do anything my parents did. my kids turned out to be really great kids for some reason. one thing i felt was important was that they always had someone at home after they got home from school and we lived out in the rurals and i was poor so they didnt have much opportunity to get in much trouble. the key to discipline is logical consequences and consistency. if you want to go in depth on that, send me a PM and i would be happy to talk to you more.