Loosy-goosy parents

I was watching a flock of geese the other day.  Within the group there was 2 distinct families with a dad, mom and 4 chicks.  One family was very strict.  Dad was pacing back and forth keeping the chicks in a tight bunch.  When they sat down to relax for a while, dad was watching closely each time a chick made a move.  And occasionally he would make a squawk to make sure they were understanding him.  However, the other family was all loosy-goosy (pun fully intended here).  Dad and mom weren’t that close to each other, the chicks were wandering all over the beach.  And one of those chicks decided to visit the chicks from the super strict family.  Well, the dad from that family wasn’t having any of it.  He went nuts.  He flapped his wings at the intruder and snapped at the loosy-goosy chick until he went running the opposite direction.  When it came time for the flock to move on, the strict family’s dad barked an order and all but one chick fell into line.  Mom was following close behind, looking at the chick that hadn’t stood up yet.  Finally, the wayward chick stood up, but he decided to take his own path to the water.  When he finally caught up to the rest of his family, his mom gave him a thump on the back with her beak.  Eventually, the other family pulled it together enough to join the flock and in a rather unorganized clump, entered the water.  Dad out front, mom somewhere in the middle the chicks wandering around zinging in and out of formation.  But for this family, there seemed to be no problem with this chaos.  I was mesmerized by how different the parenting styles were for geese.  Previously, I’d thought only humans were so different in raising children.  Thus I was left wondering if, like in human children, the chicks from the strict family would rebel at some point.  Beyond the minor infraction of being slow to leave the beach.  Yet, what does goose rebellion look like?  I have no idea.  However, it was a good reminder that children should be given the opportunity to learn independence.  They need to know how to leave the nest so to speak.  To not be hen pecked to the point they want to never return.  Yep, this is why parenting is the toughest job on the planet and I guess it doesn’t matter if you’re a human, goose or squirrel.