Three Types of Parents Handing Out Advice

Recently my husband and I have had the "privilege" of hearing a lot of opinions and advice about the way we parent.  Perhaps these little pieces of information have been thrown at us all along, but now that we have gotten a little sleep we are more inclined to hear them.  Regardless we have felt everything from gratitude to complete shock as we are blessed with these little gifts of advice.

It has been rather interesting to find that advice typically comes from three types of parents...

1.  The Seasoned Parent

This is the parent who has been there, done that.  They are likely the parents of teenagers or maybe adult children with kids of their own.  They remember the beauty in parenting, the joy in holding a new baby and how fast the years go by.  This group has two subgroups, the precious moments group and the judgemental group.  The precious moments group has valuable advice that comes from a kind heart.  It is, at times, hard to hear when in the trenches of parenting young children, but it should be stored away and considered when you have a moment to think.  The judgemental group doesn't remember the good or the bad of their own parenting experience - instead they remember the ideal and they believe they know the right way and can't wait to tell you how you are doing it wrong.  They are the ones who believe you should be doing the exact opposite of what you are actually doing.

2.  The New Parent

This group is often full of valuable advice because they are in the trenches with you.  They remember the good, the bad and the ugly because it happened yesterday and is on repeat today.  The problem is that it is extremely difficult to get advice from this group because they are tired, busy and {when given the opportunity to get out} would rather talk about something else.  When they are ready to share, this advice often comes out in word vomit because time is precious and they want to share as much as possible in a short period of time.

3.  The Perfect Parent

This group has a lot to say.  They are easily found and know more about the right and wrong way to parent than any other group.  They know the latest research.  They are the first to answer any question you have.  And they are easy to spot because they are well-rested, have flexible schedules, excessive free time and NO CHILDREN.

Here is my advice on parenting.....Keep on keepin' on!  And my hope for you is that this weekend brings something wonderful - maybe a little more sleep, a night out, or just lunch before 2:30!