10 Parenting Mistakes to Avoid

Parenting is a continuous learning process and while parents try to do and give their best for their children, there are some mistakes they might do unknowingly. Below is a list of 10 such parenting mistakes.

This is worth mentioning again as this is one of the most common parenting mistakes. Overprotecting is something that often starts when children are babies. It usually manifests as micromanaging every single moment of your child’s time. Even a toddler should have time to play without direction. Older children should be responsible for managing their own friendships, and parents should back off as their children grow.

This is another aspect of overprotection by parents in some ways. One thing that every single person needs to learn in life is responsibility. Everyone is eventually responsible for their own laundry, chores, homework, and job. If you don’t start teaching them now how these things are their personal responsibility and how to do them, it’ll be hard for them to cope when they are adults.

As your child grows, let them take over more of their own lives. You don’t need to ask them in the 11th grade about their English paper, because it’s their responsibility. They cannot ever learn to do things on their own if you micromanage all their time. Let them learn – and yes, let them fail sometimes too (as is age-appropriate).

Another thing that isn’t really that great for kids, even though it seems optimistic at the start, is always saying yes to them about everything. You don’t need to say no without a good reason, but you shouldn’t say yes to everything just to avoid conflict. Being optimistic is about dealing with conflict in a positive way, not living without conflict at all.

A lot of pessimistic people are very risk-averse. That’s one reason they don’t want to try; they see it as pointless. However, if you can show your child a method to evaluate the risk they want to take realistically, then you can show them how to take smart risks in life. For example, while it’s a risk to try out for cheerleading, put it in perspective. The result of failure for that is not being a cheerleader. That’s it.

Many young children often seem so smart and mature. However, being smart, especially book smart, has absolutely nothing to do with being mature. Maturity only comes with experience, which is why you can guide maturity with an open dialogue about the issues of the day.

This might be a hard one for some parents, but it’s important in terms of your child not only accepting other people’s humanity but also their own. You have to decide what is appropriate and what is not for your own child based on their age and your current situation, but sharing that you failed or made a mistake as a child can actually help the child learn from you better.

You may think of a coach, a teacher, a minister or someone else as a role model for your child but the fact is, the parent who is the same sex as the child is the most significant role model for that child. That can be hard to take sometimes, but it’s the truth. And if you want your child to behave a certain way, you must demonstrate that by your example.

One way a child can learn to make good decisions is by having something to look to as a guide. Creating a family mission statement about values and morals can go far in helping a child learn to make good decisions.

If your child makes a mistake, don’t try to save them from suffering consequences. It can be very tempting, but it won’t teach them how to either be optimistic or to be an upstanding citizen. A good example is that you don’t always need to take books and work to your middle school children if they forgot. And of course, you should never, ever get involved in your child’s friendship fights.