Parenting Mistakes and Lessons Group Writing Project
Kate at Babylune has challenged us to share some of our parenting mistakes and lessons as part of her Group Writing Project. Well, this Weary Parent has made more than her fair share of mistakes, but the good news is, my kids are really no worse for wear. Here are three examples of my goof-ups, trust me there are plenty more.
1. When my son was a baby I was really good about always having him sleep in his crib and cry it out as needed. As a result, he has always been my best sleeper. On the other hand, I couldn’t do it with my girls. I couldn’t deal with the crying and both of them did a lot of co-sleeping with me. Neither one of them is a great sleeper now and they prefer to sleep together than in their own beds. In the big scheme of things, they are fine, but there are days I wish I would have been as diligent with babies two and three.
2. When my middle child (daughter) was in first grade, she got a teacher that was new to the school (not new to teaching). Within the first few days I could tell it wasn’t a good match. I had a conference with the principal and she talked me into keeping my daughter in the class. I really should have insisted in having her moved – the year ended up being a disaster! Lesson learned – you know your child best and you are their primary advocate – sometimes you have to go to bat for your child’s best interest!
3. My third biggest mistake is one I know lots of parents with multiple kids have made! With my youngest, I tend to give in WAY TOO MUCH. I expect the older kids to understand and in the name of peace, quiet, and less aggravation, I have been known to give in to the Little Queen’s wild requests too many times. As a result, she knows how to exploit this – screams the LOUDEST, talks back more than the others, and gets her way more often. Luckily, this is not irreversible damage. Kindergarten and putting my foot down more often will cure her of this.
I am not alone! Here are the other parents that have “owned” up to their mistakes so far:
- MamaZen with Mistakes…I’ve made a few
- Jenny with Mistakes by Mom
- So Sioux Me with a lesson for all of us
- Kate with Pride Goeth
- The Mad Cropper is in via a scrapbook page that says something all of us need to hear every once in a while.
- Rory at Hamelife submits this personal regret over the six months they lost to the dictates of parenting convention.
- Jeanie in Paradise describes how she became a dictator.
- The Doc is In! And boy, are the F-bombs flying. So is the parental pride.
- Husbandhood has both been in the eye of the storm of a temper tantrum and found the perfect solution for preventing tantrums.
- Marriage Actually about recognizing the individuality of his three children.
Who else is up to the challenge?
Great article. Love to hear other parents discuss things like this, instead of pretending to be perfect all the time with perfect kids. I am by no means a perfect mom and my kids are each perfect in their own ways, but not everything they do.
Congrats Char! You won the draw of GWP participants. Let me know which prize you’d like.
Kate – that is so cool! Thanks for running the contest – there were some great entries.
Don’t kid yourself about the sleep issues. My son was hard to get to sleep but letting him cry it out for lengthening increments before responding worked. After a few nights, he would go down.
Letting my daughter cry for ANY amount of time never worked. She never cried less, she never comforted herself, she never calmed down, and she never, ever, ever got over it. Period. It’s easy to say “sleep issues are sleep issues” but they’re not. She had a different temperament, different needs than her brother.
Some kids sleep well and easily. Some don’t. My son was hard to get down but generally slept through the night after age 7 motnths. My daughter was a cinch to get to sleep but didn’t sleep through the night until she was more than two years old. I’m convinced it has less to do with how their parents handle them than it does with the kid’s makeup. All the best intentioned routines and strategies in the world won’t change a kid’s sleep “personality.”