I think you have to be a little bit strict. You can't be friend and their parent in a lot of situations especially in this day and age where it's so dangerous for kids. So there's a bit of sternness I guess in the way I raise my kids.
Sometimes I've been to a party where no one spoke to me for a whole evening. The men frightened by their wives or sweeties would give me a wide berth. And the ladies would gang up in a corner to discuss my dangerous character.
