Five Things you Should Refuse to do for Your Kids No Matter What

Kids are so much fun. They’re also perfectly capable of making you entirely crazy at times. It happens to all of us; our kids make us feel like the most super hero people on the planet and then they make us feel like locking the bathroom door, sitting on the floor and crying in defeat. It happens to the best of us – thankfully not all that often. Kids are far more of the former (fun) than the latter (evil) if you know how to parent, have some confidence in your abilities and you FOLLOW THROUGH. I cannot tell you how important the follow through is in parenting. Now, I’m not a parenting expert (technically) but I do think that considering I have four kids who are all mostly awesome and infrequently crazy; they’re smart, intelligent, inquisitive, sweet, they use their manners and they listen 95% of the time. I think that makes me a pretty good parent (just like all of you). And I think that gives me the know-how and firsthand knowledge to say that the follow-through is the most important (also, parenting experts always agree). If you say it, do it. If you say no, don’t do it. When kids think they can change your mind, they will keep at it. If they know that what you say is the law, they’re going to behave. So with that said, here are a few things you should never, ever do for your kids under any circumstances (here’s where you have to practice the follow through). Say no; and mean no.

Homework

They’re never going to learn if they don’t, you know, actually learn. If you do their homework for them so they get good grades and succeed, what have you really taught them? Oh yes, that they can rely on other people to help them their entire lives so they never have to actually be responsible for themselves. Bad move.

Fight Their Battles

If your kid gets in trouble for doing XYZ at school and wants you to go in and talk to the teacher so he or she can get out of trouble; don’t do it. Your kid did something wrong and should accept responsibility for his or her actions. You fighting his or her battles only shows your kids that they can always count on you to make things right and get them out of trouble.

Write Thank You Cards

All right; this one seems silly, right? It’s not. This is something you should make your kids do on their own so they learn the importance of appreciation and time. This is something they’ll do frequently throughout their lives, and it’s a good lesson for them now. It teaches them appreciation and how not to procrastinate.

Make Excuses

When your child does something bad; don’t make excuses for him or her. Your kids will never learn to behave if they hear you making excuses. “Oh, little Johnny didn’t mean to make your kids cry, he’s just having a bad day,” or “He’s just going through something right now.” These are things that will make him feel as if he can get away with whatever, whenever.

Lie

Never, ever lie for your kids. I don’t care if you want to keep him or her out of trouble or if you don’t want her friends to ostracize her because you told their parents you caught them sneaking out or whatever. Don’t do it; don’t lie for your kids. You will always regret it.

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