Parental Advice

Warning: This is an Unnecessary RANT

Maybe it's because my husband is rubbing off on me or maybe it's my age catching up with me…but I just have to rant about this.  I by no means, claim to be a perfect parent…(I have a 5 year old in solitary confinement as we speak)…I mess up and frequently my kids are naughty, but my husband and I assess the situation and come up with a solution…which is normally a really evil genius punishment (muhahaha!)  I don't google "how do I get my boys to stop fighting" or "my toddler picks her nose, is that normal?" or "5 ways to make your child feel more loved"  I just do what I think is right and what I think will work, sometimes it's trial and error…but eventually we figure it out.

I recently came across an article for the huffington post titled "Stop saying "you're so smart" 3 ways to better praise your kids" here's the link

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/renee-jain/praising-kids_b_5272483.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037

I did not click on this article to find out "how I can praise my kids better" or because I thought I needed help in this matter, I simply clicked to see what idiotic parenting advice people are handing out now!

I see parents on facebook asking for advice or simply venting their current issues with parenting, and like flies to a light, us other parents offer up THE solution to their problems!  I admit, I do it too…I sometimes feel like I found THE solution…but I am quick to remind myself, my solution worked for MY kids and probably will only work for MY kids.

Just like smart phones are making us dumber, the BEST parenting advice is making us the WORST parents.  Why are we taking advice from books or from people who we don't even know, are we so lazy (or sleep deprived) that we can't come up with a solution ourselves or better yet, why are we searching for a solution…to a problem that probably doesn't even exist!

Like this article about how to properly praise your kids!
…the first 2 paragraphs alone made me want to quit reading this…her whole point is not to praise your kids too much, yet she let a 1 year old control the "shoe situation" and they were late for class, music class by the way (really? we're putting 1 year olds in music class, give them a pot and a spoon…bam! music class and you just saved $50)  Anyways…She blames the fact that they were late on her parental habit of praising her child whenever she does something.  Then she maps out exactly when and how she thinks you should praise your child...

Ya know, I have enough to think about…like if I can make the last couple sheets of paper towels last the rest of the week or what that wet spot on the carpet is and if I want to even risk smelling it, I don't want to methodically think about when and how to praise my kids.

So here's the BEST advice you will EVER get!

Ready?

Don't take any parental advice ever!!!!

Praise your kids when you think they need praised and don't when they don't deserve it!  Spank-Don't Spank…Gluten Free/Organic or Hot Dogs and Mac n Cheese…Co Parent or good old fashioned Child Neglect…who cares, it doesn't matter.  You and only you control how your kids are raised and if they are little monsters, that is your fault and your fault alone.  No book, Medication, Doctor, Teacher or Blogger can fix parents...