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just for fun.....No judgments made here....we've all made stupid mistakes as parents, big or small.
I wanted to start this thread so that perhaps those younger parents (such as myself), can learn from other peoples' mistakes.
Please feel free to share stories about what you think is the single most stupid decision you've made as a parent.
LOL where to begin....I've made tons of mistakes along the way raising four kids and a stepson! Thankfully, they're all healthy adults now. Whew!
I regret a series of decisions I made that culminated in me working for long hours outside the home. I wish I had been home for more quality time in the evenings and had more sit down together suppers with my kids. I think I could have kept better tabs on them and nurtured them more during their difficult teen years if I'd done that.
Though I only worked on Saturdays for three years, if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have done that. It really cut into the time my kids needed with me. That is probably my biggest regret.
I tried to make up for it in other ways, like one on one time with them, very open communication, a sense of humor, mini vacations as often as possible, that sort of thing, but in my opinion, there's no substitute for daily, quality nurturing. We had too many fragmented dinners, hectic evenings, missed homework assignments, and they spent too much time unsupervised as latch key kids for some of those important years (not all of them, but enough to do damage I think). The result was that they bonded together and covered for each other when they did things they shouldn't do, rather than turning to me for help or advice. Their bonding is great, but I should have been more available.
Letting my daughter drive a stick-shift car when she turned 16. She could not get the hang of it, and she stripped the gears and burned up the clutch three times.
My kids are still young with the oldest being 7years old. So, I have a lot of time left to make a lot more stupid decisions. But up until now, I would say that the stupidest decision I made was buying a lot of brand new expensive baby gear. But to be fair to myself, when my oldest was born, Craigslist was not as popular as it is now and Facebook buy/sell/trade pages were nonexistent. I wasted way too much money on baby crap things like swings, vibrating chairs, mats, pack-n-play, jumperoo, exersaucer and on and on.
Spending a ton of money on a beach vacation when my son was just under 2. He was miserable the whole time, missed his own bed, was afraid of the water, and there was really nothing for him to do there. We couldn't eat in restaurants because he wouldn't behave for more than minutes (one of us always ended up outside with him), and basically the place that was always so relaxing before was anything but.
Now I plan only kid-friendly vacations - it's not a vacation for anyone if the kid is bored.
Spending a ton of money on a beach vacation when my son was just under 2. He was miserable the whole time, missed his own bed, was afraid of the water, and there was really nothing for him to do there. We couldn't eat in restaurants because he wouldn't behave for more than minutes (one of us always ended up outside with him), and basically the place that was always so relaxing before was anything but.
Now I plan only kid-friendly vacations - it's not a vacation for anyone if the kid is bored.
Thanks for the advise, I will keep this in mind, as I have a 14 month old now. ..
Spending a ton of money on a beach vacation when my son was just under 2. He was miserable the whole time, missed his own bed, was afraid of the water, and there was really nothing for him to do there. We couldn't eat in restaurants because he wouldn't behave for more than minutes (one of us always ended up outside with him), and basically the place that was always so relaxing before was anything but.
Now I plan only kid-friendly vacations - it's not a vacation for anyone if the kid is bored.
We have twins two year olds.....and we traveled to Cancun twice, Europe once, and a 7 day cruise before they turned 2....just so we could take advantage of the 'free' flights for them.
The funny thing about the 'beach' was that one of them LOVED the beach/water/sand, while the other HATED it with a passion! lol
It was so funny and fascinating to see the contrast given that the environment they grew up in since birth, and their collective experiences was essentially identical.
After I successfully ended a relationship with an abusive man, I would occasionally bad-mouth men in general. (no need to go further into that!)
Well, one day my daughter, who was maybe 13 or 14 at the time, said to me during one of my rants "Mom, I wish you wouldn't talk like that. You had problems with men, but I might never have those problems, and I don't want you influencing my feelings. I want to have a boyfriend some day."
Too many to believe that I was really that bad. Once, when i compared myself to Hommer Simpson after disappointing my young daughter, she replied, "Hommer isn't that bad, dad".
After I successfully ended a relationship with an abusive man, I would occasionally bad-mouth men in general. (no need to go further into that!)
Well, one day my daughter, who was maybe 13 or 14 at the time, said to me during one of my rants "Mom, I wish you wouldn't talk like that. You had problems with men, but I might never have those problems, and I don't want you influencing my feelings. I want to have a boyfriend some day."
Well, THAT shut me up!!!
Aw - but congrats on raising a daughter who could speak her mind so eloquently and clearly at a young age! Go mom! You did good.
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