💬 Parenting Out Loud: The Advice You Kept (or Kicked to the Curb)
What parenting advice have you treasured—or happily tossed?
Parenting advice is everywhere—books, social media, and even unsolicited tips from strangers in the checkout line. Some of it sticks, but let’s be honest: not all advice is created equal.
We’ve all heard guidance that felt unrealistic, outdated, or just plain wrong for our family. But every once in a while, a piece of wisdom turns out to be a game-changer.
What’s the best parenting advice you ever received? Or the worst advice you happily ignored?
💬 Drop yours in the comments. Whether it’s something you ditched immediately or a surprising gem that actually worked, I’d love to hear what shaped (or didn’t shape) your parenting.
📌 I’ll share the advice that stuck with me in a pinned comment. Let me know if you agree, have a better take, or think I’ve doomed my kids to a lifetime of therapy over it.
One of the best pieces of parenting advice I ever received came from my dad, and I’ve tried to live by it ever since: “Whenever possible, find a way to say yes.”
Kids are constantly asking for things—sometimes wild, sometimes reasonable, sometimes somewhere in between. Instead of defaulting to 'no,' the goal is to find a way to say 'yes' in a way that works for everyone.
For me, it’s not about saying yes to everything but about shifting from immediate refusal to ‘how can we make this work?’ My hope has been to teach my girls negotiation and problem-solving and that their ideas have value. And it’s definitely made parenting feel more like teamwork and less like a battle of wills.
During my older son's tantrum-prone years, I struggled to say no even when necessary. The most helpful advice I received was to mentally repeat "I am an empathetic brick wall" while setting boundaries. This phrase allowed me to remain firm while still acknowledging his feelings. To this day I still repeat the mantra during difficult moments.