Today I had the opportunity to talk to a great number of people about a variety of subjects. The vast majority of my conversations were about children . People have their own pet peeves when it comes to child rearing (i.e. what constitutes bad behavior vs typical childhood behaviors, discipline,etc). I usually listen to complaints, nod sympathetically, throw in a few similiarities to show the other person I understand (having 5 kids, I've usually experienced something close). Basically, I try to follow the goldren rule. I don't hesitate to share my parenting struggles with others because I really don't have much of an ego where that's concerned. I love my children, but they're not perfect. I figure if I love them, I'll get over my self and seek alternative ideas to help them better.
In short, I figure you can never try too hard to get better at being a parent. There's always more to learn. It's best to have an opinion, but leave yourself some room for error.
When a mother of a young/er child and I are speaking and they voice their opinions about how their kid will never do that or act a certain way, I am always reminded of all the things my children would never do or say. I used to get offended when a child would act insolent or be unkind to mine. The older,wiser me is more patient and understanding. I now realize that if I see an older girl walk out of the house in something horrendous, one day my daughter will do the same thing at some point. There are a hundred different reasons why she might get away with it that particular day. I can only hope that my choldren behave in a way that wouldn't embarrass me when they aren't within seeing/hearing distance. You just never know. I've learned that for every time I judge another parenting decision or mistake, I will have given others that much more room to do the same for mine.
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