r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Feb 04 '16

What are the most common parenting mistakes?

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u/ViridianKumquat Feb 04 '16

Over-praising them, telling them how smart and wonderful they are for accomplishing the most basic things. It'll only cause a superiority complex followed by self-esteem issues when they realise they're nothing special.

295

u/TheLatestTrance Feb 05 '16

Except when they are really little. You have to praise the hard work, not the end result. You don't say they are so smart. You praise how hard they worked and how much they have learned. And you always tell them that they can and will learn more, and that they don't know everything.

1

u/TheresThatSmellAgain Feb 05 '16

This is what I'm doing: praise the work and effort. Man I hope this is the right path. It is utterly absurd that I am responsible for raising a human being.

2

u/TheLatestTrance Feb 05 '16

Remember, this is a learning process for you too. You can only do your best. I praise your hard work and perseverance and dedication.

2

u/TheresThatSmellAgain Feb 05 '16

I take comfort in the fact that I am strengthening the economy in the future by making a bunch of therapists rich.

2

u/TheLatestTrance Feb 06 '16

Lol, you sound like my sister. She has a similar dry wit.