Parenting Mistakes

We've all made them. If  you have children, you have made parenting mistakes. If you are an aunty, uncle-y, or fairy godsister, you, too, have made mistakes. Maybe nothing as drastic as dropping the dog bone on the baby or screaming "I'm gonna pinch your head off the next time you... oh, hello Officer in line behind me." Here is what I will confess to... for now....

1. Introducing my children to chicken nuggets. I'm sure I have killed all sense of taste in those precious little buds for eternity.
2. Not requiring daily reading. As a teacher, I cry like a toddler missing their Momma because my kids don't enjoy reading. I'm sure it's because I was too tired to read to them as young uns after I got home from reading to everyone else's kids.
3. Establishing firm bedtimes. It made for a nice schedule for a while, but heaven help us all if I have to change the schedule now, because one will make a federal case out of it and require 2 hours of litigation to approve the change and the other will go along with it and completely forget we ever had a different schedule.
4. Encouraging talking. Mistake? Oh yeah! I have the most verbal children on the planet. They use words like they are going out of style. Talk to someone, sure! Talk to themselves.. out loud, in public, Uh-huh. In their sleep? yep. And the noises they make! I know that boys make noise, that's why those words rhyme, but mine are a bit extreme.
5. Teaching them how to use the TV remote. Independence is a goal, but somethings should require parental assistance. Just because you CAN change the channel, doesn't mean you should.
6. Microwave popcorn. Yes they can make it themselves, but it should not be the only thing they eat!
7. Expressing their opinion. I used to think that kids should be able to respectfully share their opinions. I now have a preteen and am aghast at my ignorance. Apparently I "just don't understand" anything. That's what he tells me, anyway.
8. Introducing my children to Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. It seemed ok at the time. No more need be said.
9. Answering questions. Now they ask them all the time. Sometimes they are funny. Sometimes they are embarrassing. And sometimes they are just hard. Some say curiosity is a sign of intelligence. I think curiosity is just a sign of boredom.


So that's what I've got for now. I guess we could call this episode 1. Have a great week!