Hmmm, I agree with some of this, yet strongly disagree with it too.

Yes you should pay attention to your kids but, no, they should also be taught manners to understand they can't be attention whores allowed to interrupt necessary conversations either. This relates to teaching them manners, which is something severely lacking in most kids and even more sadly, society as a whole.

And the concept of being their best buddies, well, yes and no. You have to gain the righteous respect and admiration of your kids but if your aim is to be their BFF all the time, you'll find yourself unable to properly motivate them to do better when necessary because you'll be too worried about what they will think of your guidance to actually GIVE them the guidance they need and expect from you.

Like my Mom used to say "Raising kids will be the hardest job you'll ever have". To me, teaching them what's expected to get along in the world, what is and is not acceptable and tempering their learning with guidance, motivation and loving discipline is about as hard a task as I can imagine