Raising children

I had an interesting thought while browsing through blogs today. There seems to be quite a few blogs that talk about "kids today".... lack of respect, lost in direction... not being heard.....
I cannot speak for generations before me, but it seems like pevious generations couldn't wait to HAVE children and wanted these little experiments to reflect the type of person they wanted to be..."You are such a good mother, your kids pee pee'd in the potty by (this)".... "You must have been one helluva dad to make the money to send your kids to (blank) college".
My generation of friends having babies talks about RAISING our children... making choices that will help to build character not grade point averages. I don't want my children to go to go to the best schools, I want them to have life experiences that help them to know what they really want out of life. I don't want my kids to be doctors, I want them to be respectful. I don't want my children to grow up and get married and have grandbabies for me... I want them to have happy fulfilling relationships. I want to focus on their current development, not think how this development will lead to that development which will lead them to be perfect ... I do not want my kids to be perfect... I want them to fail, learn how to fail and learn how to grow from failure. I do not want them to be the best at everything, because I want to teach them compassion for people who are not always the best.
I know my parents wanted what was "best" for me.... both positve and negative...when I was old enough to make choices for myself they guided these choices, but did not question them once they were made. If there were consequences, they made me responsible for them, but they did not judge me for them. They made the blocks available to me, but I built my character.
I want to focus on giving my children the right blocks... not the right shoes....