We have all made mistakes as parents/guardians. No matter how hard we try to be perfect, we are all human and we end up making mistakes here and there. I would love to tell you that you won’t make any more mistakes in the parenting journey but I would be lying. We wanted to compile a list of some of the most common mistakes parents/guardians make! You might be doing some of these without even realizing it.
1) Too many choices
It’s good to give your children choices but giving them too many will ultimately confuse them. You don’t want to raise a child who can’t make a decision because they feel overwhelmed whenever it comes to making choices. Try giving them options. For example, instead of what would you like to do today, ask them if they want to go to the park now or later. That way you will definitely get them out of the house at some point but they need to make the ultimate choice.
2) Too much praise
It’s definitely important to praise your child but there needs to be a limit. If you are constantly praising them for every small thing they do, they will look for praise whenever they accomplish something minor and if they aren’t praised they will feel like they failed. In reality, they won’t be praised for every small thing they do at school or at work when they get older.
3) Overindulging them
This behaviour will create a very materialistic child who believes happiness comes from getting things. Although we agree with giving rewards, we don’t agree with over spoiling.
4) Too busy
Private lessons, football, and dance are all a bit too much. Do keep in mind that your child goes to school for 6-7 hours a day. That’s a long time! It’s great for them to have extracurricular activities but do make sure they are having time to rest and days where they are completely off.
5) Judging harshly
We expect a lot from our children, sometimes too much. We try to teach them to avoid the mistakes we made when we were younger and if they make the same ones we did, we are extra critical because we assume they should have learned from our mistakes when in reality this is unfair. You shouldn’t punish your child for your mistakes. They need to make their own ones and learn from them.
6) Forgetting their age
No, we don’t mean when you literally panic for a minute because you can’t remember if your child is 6 already or is about to turn 6 (we’ve all been there). We mean when parents give their children responsibilities that aren’t age-appropriate. An 8-year-old shouldn’t be raising a 3-year-old. It’s okay if they help out when they want to but it’s not their responsibility.
There are many common mistakes that we all make as parents/guardians. Stick around for part 2.
Also, give us a follow on our Facebook page to keep up with all our news!
https://www.facebook.com/gigiandfriendschildcarecentres