Parenting Epiphany #1
Feb 21 2011

I’ve had more than a few parenting epiphanies in the last several years.  I’ve tried to stay away from posting advice on parenting since parenting style depends on the parent and the nature of the child.  There are very few right and wrong ways to parent, but those few are very important.  For example, don’t physically abuse your child or do give your kids lots of love and encouragement!  I have published baby tips and things to try in the past but most of those were pretty basic, but I thought I’d share an observation I’ve noticed with my kids and other kids and that is:

You have to say “yes” enough times to a kid, that they respect when you say “no.”

If you are always saying “no” and don’t let them experiment or try new things or play the Wii, then they get discouraged or find ways to work around you.  If you say “yes” to the right amount of things at the right time, when you tell them “no,” they seem to listen.  They somehow seem to get that you are respecting their individuality to try different things and in return respect you (even if it might not make sense to them at the time) when you put limits.  I believe it’s important to have limits so kids know where their boundaries are and they feel safe.  If you say “yes” to everything, then you end up with a spoiled kid.  The trick is finding the right balance  of “yes” and “no” given our hectic, highly scheduled lives of work and school.

Anyway, take that epiphany for what it’s worth.  It may very well be documented in all the child psychology books out there, and I have no idea.

Stay tuned for my recent plant growing epiphany.  I’m lucky with house plants and have a couple that are over 15 years old and still alive.

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