Tag Archives: parenting advice

Out of Date Parenting Advice

The best parenting advice today is (hopefully) tried and true methods that are designed to help infants and children be healthy. Sometimes, people will pass along ideas that have since been debunked. No matter what kind of unwanted parenting advice you have heard, it probably isn’t worse than some of the advice given to moms of the past. A popular book for mothers in the 1900s was The Mother and Her Child. It advised mothers to “wash their nipples with soap and water” before nursing, and then “rinse in boracic acid”. This is a terrible idea! Boric acid is not … Continue reading →

Never-Ending Advice

Remember when your kids were babies and everyone around you felt the need to give you parenting advice—even when you didn’t ask for it? Well, the unsolicited guidance doesn’t stop as your children get older. Case in point:  The other day my daughter and I were getting a bite to eat at a local family restaurant.  We frequent the eatery on a monthly basis because she loves the rotisserie chicken.  And by love I mean she’s so obsessed she will not order any other entrée.  Given her near religious devotion to the seasoned bird, I didn’t even bother to ask … Continue reading →

The Little Things

My daughter’s teacher has the following quote taped on the front of her desk:  “Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were big things.” Despite seeing the laminated saying each time I walked my daughter to class, it took me a good two months to fully grasp the meaning of that single sentence. As busy parents trying to keep our heads above the choppy waters of life, it’s easy to dismiss the little things our children do every.single.day.  What’s more, it’s even easier to ignore the many opportunities we have to strengthen … Continue reading →

Parenting Advice Challenges

You may think you have the absolute best parenting advice EVER to share with every mom and dad on the planet, but the fact is if said mother or father didn’t ask for your tips, it’s highly unlikely he or she is going to follow them. Unsolicited advice is invaluable advice. If you want to share your tried and true parenting techniques with other moms and dads, wait until you are asked.  Parents are more apt to follow advice if they are seeking it rather than having it forced down their throats.  What’s more, it’s important to remember that a … Continue reading →

Resisting the Urge to Interfere

All last week my 14-year-old daughter was at camp, about 3 hours away from home. It was all middle school kids who were told to not bring their cell phones. Since I was in North Carolina, I missed that information at a parent meeting. So the next morning when I dropped her off at church, she mentioned her phone was low on battery but that she couldn’t bring the charger because she wasn’t supposed to really have it. Yes, just minutes before she is leaving. I didn’t make too much of it and said my goodbyes. It was hard having … Continue reading →

“No Thank You” to Parenting Advice from a Date

They may have a dozen children they are raising on their own or be the most renowned parenting expert in the world—that doesn’t mean that we, as single parents, need to take parenting advice or be expected to be comfortable with suggestions on parenting choices from someone we are just starting to date. I am not sure why people even think that it might be okay to offer parenting advice to a single parent on a date? I suppose that there are those parents who ask for it—asking a person what they think they should do or what they would … Continue reading →

Older Teens Really DON’T Come with Parenting Manuals

When I was a new parent, I could find dozens of books—hundreds of books—that were geared toward helping me figure out how to quiet a colicky baby, what to expect in terms of child development and all sorts of other parenting tips and tools. They were abundant and I probably turned to those books and manuals on a daily basis in those early years. Now that my kids are nearly grown, I seem to be on my own. The shelves at the book store are pretty sparse when it comes to parenting books… Sure there are books on troubled teens … Continue reading →

Are Parents Important Life Lessons Sinking In?

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How can you tell if the lessons you have been trying to teach your children are sinking in? One way is to watch the things your kids say or do. If you kids insist that you attend school events or you receive compliments about your teen’s behavior, you’re probably doing something right. David Breachoft, a professor of psychology and family studies at Concordia College, asked his students to come up with a list of important lessons for life that they learned from their mothers. Here’s a sampling of what his students had to say: You can do anything you set … Continue reading →

More Quick Parenting Tips

I love great parenting advice and sometimes I find little quick tips and advice sprinkled throughout parenting magazines that I read. In the February 2005 issue of babytalk, for instance, I found these great little gems: (1) Putting oil on cradle cap does not cure it. Doing so only hides the scales. Instead, wash the scalp with baby shampoo and rinse, then apply a selenium-based dandruff shampoo and leave it on for five minutes. Then rinse, dry and brush away the flakes. (2) What’s the best way to burp your baby? According to moms, these methods have worked for them: … Continue reading →