What is your best parenting advice? \ stacker news ~AskSN

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What is your best parenting advice?

353 sats \ 26 comments \ @Aardvark 1 Jun AskSN

I don't have children, so ill just guess that you should probably change their litter often....

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153 sats \ 4 replies \ @stack_harder 1 Jun

My advice is this:

First, learn to forgive yourself for your failings as a parent. Because you will be tested mentally, beyond anything you have experienced as a young single guy or gal. you will end up losing your shit at times and you will feel sorry/shame afterwards. And then it will most likely happen again, many times, and then you will, if you're smart, learn your new triggers and start to become wiser.
When the kid/s are young (and if you are an active participant, as opposed to a 1980s style parent), you will be pushed physically, more tired than you ever thought possible, and on top of that, you will have spousal issues too as you navigate a new landscape. (If you are an old school parent, you will be busy at work or the bar while your spouse does all the work and you will be oblvious to the building resentment and biterness building up until it blows you on you one day in mount Vesuvious fashion and you'll wonder where it came from).

And if during this time you or a spouse happen to lose your job, buckle up.

Life is no longer a stress-free series of lovely meals and wild sex, it can still be those things, but with the added fear that your child might die if something or be kidnapped. A new dimension of terror exists, and it won't ever go away, then if you have grandkids, you'll worry about them too.
Don't compare your kids to other people's kids. Comparison is the thief of joy, and this applies to kids, too.
Finally, I will say this: I think it's the ultimate learning experience, and each kid is different. I think it's like each child is a different lock and your job, as a parent (and a teacher, if you are one, like @cryotosensei) is to find the right 'key' and approach. What works for other parents may or may not work for you.

60 sats \ 2 replies \ @freetx 1 Jun

I think it's the ultimate learning experience, and each kid is different.

Tied into this: Your job as a parent becomes more of a 'coach' once they hit 14/15. Further once they hit 18/19 you become a friend/mentor/advisor.

That sounds all warm-and-fuzzy but you need to take the good with the bad. You can't make your 18 y/o do anything, you have no control, and all you can do is suggest the best way they accomplish something. You need to let the school of hard knocks take care of the rest.....thats certainly easier said than done, but ultimately you need to accept it because thats how it is.

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 1 Jun

Parents still have the power of the purse over college age children

60 sats \ 0 replies \ @freetx 1 Jun

So true. Best thing I ever did was create 529 account for each kid. I handed it off when they turned 18 with the message of "I saved this up for you and its yours now, but I don't know if I will ever be able to add any more to it, so use it wisely..."

Putting the responsibility on them is a great way to focus their minds.

24 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 1 Jun

Thanks for having me in mind when you wrote this.

It’s kinda comforting - knowing that this exhaustion is commonplace haha

lol at wild sex.

134 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 1 Jun

Nothing you do will be right. Do your best and go easy on yourself.

42 sats \ 3 replies \ @denlillaapan 1 Jun

Don't listen to people giving parental advice...?

12 sats \ 2 replies \ @Aardvark OP 1 Jun

So you're saying you shouldn't change your children's litter box?! Not cool man...

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @denlillaapan 1 Jun

Nope, I tots would. Just not because someone says so

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Aardvark OP 1 Jun

Lol, I respect it.

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 1 Jun

Not only that, but I shove them YouTube and gift chocolates to hush them hehe

71 sats \ 0 replies \ @gnilma 1 Jun

It's not about how often you change the diaper, but how timely you change it. But remembering to change the diaper is a good start.

Every kid is different and requires different strategies/ways. You just figure it out along the way, in hopes that you don't go insane during the process.

I do think the best advice is to not forget about your better half just because you got a kid. The kid will just leave you after he/she grows up, but your better half is the one that you will spend the rest of your life with. Also, having the both of you working together trying to figure the kid out is better than doing it solo.

52 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 1 Jun

Focus on teaching them good habits and principles and trust everything else will work itself out.

113 sats \ 0 replies \ @03547d7bea 1 Jun freebie

If there is a loud, muffled noise and the child cries, everything is fine. If you don't hear anything after the noise... RUN !!!

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @realBitcoinDog 2 Jun

Don’t do it

55 sats \ 1 reply \ @gandules 1 Jun

The 1-2-3 rule, also known as "1-2-3 Magic," is a parenting technique developed by Dr. Thomas W. Phelan to manage children's behavior effectively and calmly. It is designed to encourage compliance and reduce disruptive behaviors in children aged 2 to 12 through a straightforward, consistent, and non-emotional approach to discipline. The technique emphasizes clear communication, structured consequences, and maintaining parental composure.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Signal312 2 Jun

I second this. There's a great book on it, also called 1-2-3 Magic.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @thecommoner 1 Jun

Sticks and stones will break my bones....but names will never hurt me :)

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b 1 Jun

The best I’ve heard is that good parenting mostly depends on the example you set (and the example the children’s other role models might set).

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @NovaRift 1 Jun

I don't have children

I'm not a parent either. But take my great advice..

Let them play Minecraft for hours, never snatch their tablets, never put parental controls on their devices or router itself. Thank me later

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @rootmachine 1 Jun

Learn as you go cause you will always be a child in your heart.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Aardvark OP 1 Jun

My wife would agree that im extremely childish...

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @guerratotal 1 Jun

Simple: Be the person you want your kid to become. They copy more what you do than what you say. Patience, presence, and leading by example go way further than any parenting hack.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @398ja 2 Jun

It starts with the partner, choose the right one

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @flat24 2 Jun

I would say that listening to children more, and imposing less our will.

Sometimes we forget that they are more susceptible, or that they don't see the world like us.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Crow 1 Jun freebie

One thing nobody ever tells you is that below the age of 3 (roughly) your child's ability to regulate temperature has not fully developed. Moving them from a hot to cold environment or vice-versa can make them go into spasms as their body struggles to cope with the change.

Not much fun when you are a new parent and this sort of shit happens I can tell you, but now you know and I hope that makes future parenting a bit easier!