Being a parent is the hardest job in the world. While you’re going to do most things right, there are bound to be some mistakes along the way. Fortunately, if you start a search online, you can find stupid mistakes that every new parent makes.
From the time they are born until they move out of your house, your child is going to force you to make decision after decision. And the fact is: some of those decisions are going to be wrong. So, what are you sure to do wrong?
1. Putting a Diaper On Incorrectly
You are going to change a lot – a lot – of diapers. Some of them will be just a bit wet, and your child will be cooperating, and it will be no problem at all. Some of them, however, will be a nightmare. There will be a seriously eye-watering stink coming from the dirty diaper, your child will want nothing to do with wearing the new one, and panic will set in. This is when mistakes are going to be made.
Don’t feel too bad – it happens to everybody at least once.
2. Waking Up the Baby
One of the first rules you learn as a new parent is this: don’t wake a sleeping baby! Only when you have had to go through the difficulties that come along with getting a small child to sleep can you understand how important it is to keep that child asleep once they finally settle in.
Unfortunately, there are many ways you can go wrong on this point. For instance, once you get the child to sleep and you lay them carefully in their crib, you may kick a toy on the way out of the room – setting off a rattling noise that puts you right back at square one. AHHHH!
3. Expecting Perfection
In your eyes, your child is going to be perfect. However, in reality, they aren’t perfect – and that’s okay as well. Your child might take a bit longer than expected to walk, or talk, or do just about anything else.
Don’t allow yourself to be a slave to expectations when it comes to your kids. Enjoy their successes and appreciate the little things along the way, regardless of the timeline you had in mind for their progress.
4. Inconsistency
One of the biggest mistakes you are going to make – and you will make it – is being inconsistent from day to day in terms of your discipline and expectations. Depending on your mood, you might have more patience some days rather than others, and that will show in how you respond to your child. Remember, they are going to be learning from your decisions, so consistency is something to strive for.
5. Being Stuck in Your Ways
Parents quickly learn that they aren’t always in as much control of the situation as they’d like to be. Even if you have ideas that you think are good for your children, it is a mistake to not adjust them on the fly if they aren’t working. Good leadership is about adapting, so good parents have to be willing to make changes on the go for the best interest of the child.
6. Being Overprotective
This is a classic parenting mistake, as it is one that comes from a place of love and care. You want the best for your child, so you don’t want to see them struggle or fail. However, struggles and failure are an inevitable part of life, and learning those lessons early on can be valuable. Letting your child explore safely while struggling with some little things may help them grow up and learn self-sufficiency.
7. Failing to Follow Through
Another typical parenting mistake, this is one that can come back to bite you for years. If you are constantly threatening your child with punishment – punishment that never comes – they are quickly going to learn that they can safely ignore your warnings.
Following through on your word gives you credibility, and you need as much of that as you can get as a parent.
8. Constant Comparisons
Even if you don’t mean anything by it, comparing other children to your own is a game that can lead to seriously damaged feelings and animosity down the line. There is no point to comparing other people’s kids to your own – all children are unique. It will be easy for your child to become bitter and jealous if you are always talking about how great someone else is.
9. Allowing Your Kid to Cause Trouble in Public
At some point, you are going to run into an embarrassing situation when your child gets a little out of control in a public place. Kids aren’t as worried about being embarrassed as adults, so they don’t tend to filter themselves when around other people. Don’t worry – everyone who is a parent will understand, as all children act out in public from time to time.
10. Losing Your Temper
There are a lot of frustrating and trying moments that you will go through as a parent, but it is your job to keep your temper in check as much as possible. Getting angry is never going to help the situation, but it will cause you to make decisions you aren’t proud of.
Any time you start to get angry with your child or with the situation, take a deep breath and step back before deciding how to proceed.
11. Projecting Your Insecurities
You might be tempted to assume that your child has the same insecurities that you do, but that is often not the case. Remember, even though they look like you and have some of your traits, they are their own person. No two people are exactly alike, even within the same family.
Let your child be his or her own person, free from your insecurities and expectations of the world.
12. Paying Attention to One Child More Than Another
It can be difficult to spread your time and attention around when you have multiple children, but that is exactly what you need to do. Give all of your kids the love and affection they deserve, and make them all feel important. You might not be perfect at this point every time, but do your best to keep things balanced and equal.
13. Making Plans When You Have Young Children
So, you think you are going to plan out an entire vacation with a young child? Ummm – think again. You can try to plan out your daily activities on a trip, or even at home, but your child is going to have more to say about what you do than you will. Flexibility is a theme in parenting, and it certainly applies with regard to trying to plan activities.
14. Worshipping Your Child
This is a point that is easy to misconstrue. Of course you are going to love your kids, and of course you are going to be proud of many of the things that they do. However, you don’t want to take that too far.
If you worship your children – treating them as though they can do no wrong – you will be setting them up for failure. Your kids are not going to be worshipped by others in the ‘real world’, so don’t set up that expectation for them early on.
15. Being Competitive With Other Parents
Don’t play this game. There is no reason to compete with other parents for some sort of imaginary parenting trophy. There will be no awards handed out down the line based on whose children got the best grades, or got into the best schools. Love your kids for what they are, and let other parents do the same. You will be much happier in the end.