Strollerderby
10 General, And Five Very Specific, Parenting Mistakes
A writer at MSN recently compiled this list of 10 big parenting mistakes, all of them general enough to be as inclusive as possible. 
Among the things on the list: Spoiling our kids; not following through (e.g. telling the son he’s grounded, but not actually grounding him); praising mediocrity; and pushing trends on our children.
To me, the beauty of parenting is not the general errors we all make, but the very particular screw-ups that are unique to each of us. Because really, isn’t it good to feel inept in your own special way? In that spirit, here are five ridiculously specific parenting mistakes I have made in recent months:
- Exposing my son to excessive amounts of Wimbledon coverage, thereby prompting him to point to the TV and say “Ball?” for days after the matches ended.
- As discussed previously on this blog, giving him a paci to help him get to sleep.
- Almost letting him drive his toy bus down a small flight of stairs. (Please note that I said almost, that I got to him in time to prevent an accident and that my husband and I are still trying to figure out how the bleep to put up sturdy baby gates by the stairs in our split-level house).
- Leaving him home alone for a little longer than usual, then returning to find he had broken into a container of a dozen mini-cupcakes and eaten 10 of them. Nope, wait a second, that happened to my dog, not my son. But he’s sort of a child, too, so I’m still counting this one.
- Listening to the “Xanadu” soundtrack while my son is in the car, which could lead to an unhealthy attachment to E.L.O.
On second thought, forget that last one. Making sure my boy understands that he has to believe we are magic? That’s rock-solid parenting right there.
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