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Hello lovely Parent24 parents,
I hardly ever get asked for parenting advice, and I am very happy about that. While it may come up in conversation that I am the editor at Parent24, the response I often note is a flash of mild guilt from parents.
I may be transferring here, but it’s as if they’re making a mental note of all the things THEY (not me!) consider wrong/inappropriate/judge worthy when it comes to how they’re raising their kids. Sure, I have my opinions on the way I like to handle my children – this probably doesn’t relate to any latest studies – but I either don’t notice or care how your choices differ to mine.
Your kids stay up till one in the morning gorging on Orange Chips (that no longer contain tartrazine)? Don’t care.
Bought your kid a plastic gun as a gift even though your child’s teacher is a card-carrying member of Greenpeace? Don’t care.
I could think of lots of reasons (more realistic ones) that parents judge themselves, but then I’d sound like the Simon Cowell of parenting:
"You call THAT swaddling, contestant? It’s a big NO from me."
Thank goodness bringing up kids isn’t a competition.
Thank goodness that if you refuse to buy three extra bags of marshmallows just so your child can upgrade to a Stickee toy at a local supermarket and your kid responds by saying something that sounds like “duck”, I don’t have to care two figs.
There are many people professing to be parenting gurus out there, and good luck to them with their formulas backed with statistics and grinning families. I am not that person.
Here’s the sum total of advice I’d (reluctantly) offer (and probably should learn to practice myself):
Kids: listen to your parents, they often have wise things to say.
Parents, listen to your kids, they can tell you things about their lives without even realising they’re doing so. Learn to read their faces and their body language, too.
As far as I am concerned, you all get to go through to the next round of being fantastic moms and dads.
Have a wonderful week!
What’s the most important tip you would offer another parent? Tell us about it at chatback@parent24.om and you could be featured on Parent24.
