Being my Children's Friend?

I'm reading The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity by Sally Clarkson right now as part of my reading list for the year. It contains tons of great information, and I'm learning a lot. I just have one problem with the author: she keeps saying how her children are her best friends. When she wrote this book, three of her children were teenagers, and the fourth was younger. Best friends? Every time I read those words, I feel like I do when I hear fingernails on a chalkboard.

To me, best friends are people that you can confide in, good times and bad. They are people whom you consider to be your equals. My children cannot understand what I'm going through because they are children and have little to no life experience, so I cannot confide in them. My children are not my equals because they are children. They are younger and have less experience, and more importantly, they are under my authority.

I do hope one day to be good friends with my children, but that day is a long time from now. I don't expect to be "friends" with them until they no longer live under my roof, under my authority.

What do you think? Do you want to be your children's friend? Now?