Parenting advice to ignore
If you hear any of the below, simply smile, nod and forget
Advice to ignore
- Parenting advice not worth trying
Parenting advice is everywhere and you’re bound to hear it from parents, friends, neighbours and even the woman on the checkout may have a few words of parenting wisdom to share.
As great as it is to get some advice from other parents, it’s not always right for you, and sometimes it really should just be ignored, so if you hear any of the following, simply smile, nod, say thanks and then wipe it from your mind.
1. Take action immediately if your child misbehaves
A lot of parents, particularly our parents’ generation may offer this advice but it isn’t always the most effective. It can be more effective to step back for a second and try and determine why your child did what they did and it will help you deal more effectively with the situation.
2. Reprimand all bad behaviour
This can hugely backfire as if a little one gets a tough punishment for a small act of bad behaviour, it could breed resentment rather learning a lesson from it. Pick your battles is often the path of least resistance.
3. Tell your child they must finish all the food on their plate
This is another from our parents’ generation. We were always told to finish all the food on our plate. This isn’t necessarily the best tact though. Different children have different amounts of food they need to consume to feel full. Perhaps explain that if they have had enough dinner that is fine, but if they really haven’t eaten much at all, be clear they cannot ask for something else straight away if they are supposedly “full”.
4. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again
Like all of us, children have their strengths and weaknesses. If they try an activity but clearly haven’t tried their best, it can be a good idea to encourage them to try it one more time just do their best and see how it goes. If this still doesn’t go well, rather than pushing them into something they don’t have a natural aptitude for or interest in, leave it a while and be relaxed that perhaps this just wasn’t the right activity for them right now.