Parenting is a full-time job, it’s no wonder it doesn’t come with an instruction manual. The on-the-job training for parenthood can literally last a lifetime. One thing all parents share in common is wanting the best for their kids, but they can and do end up making some mistakes in the process. These mistakes can affect a child’s growth and development and therefore, it’s important for parents to be aware of these potential mistakes they can unintentionally make.

Doing Too Much
Almost every parent does this just to make life easier for their kids. Parents end up overdoing things that could be more beneficial to their child if they learned to do them on their own. This includes fulfilling all their demands, coming up with instant solutions for every problem, and doing things on the children’s behalf. This will make a child overly dependent and can deter their inner confidence from developing. Children must learn responsibilities from an early age to combat dependency. Parents should step back often and let kids do things on their own.

Not Listening
Parents are often in the habit of waving off a child’s fears and concerns. Parents should put themselves in their children’s shoes from time to time and really listen to what they’re saying. If they don’t listen to their children, they will never be able to connect with them emotionally. Spending some quality time listening to a child’s thoughts and ideas does a lot in terms of understanding and connecting with the child.

Communication
Communication is the key for any successful relationship. When a parent and child communicate in a healthy way, the child will trust the parent and will feel more inclined to communicating even more. The child will also be able to share details about his or her life freely without inhibitions at any age.

Setting Limits
Limits are important for children and adults. To better govern a child’s behaviour, limit are compulsory as they grow up. Limits are not negatives. In fact, limits and behaviour guidelines encourage healthy and secure growth and development. If a parent is too lenient with their child it promotes lack of boundaries and discipline is necessary for a child to learn important life lessons. However, if a parent is too strict this could result in lack of responsiveness and respect from the child, later developing into a negative relationship if it continues. A strong easy medium between two concepts is generally the greatest ingredient to any parent-child relationship.

Happy Parenting!