How To Failures With Toddlers

Woman Holding Her Head Because She Made A Mistake







I have been sharing various how to’s about toddlers, but I had neglected to share my failures with you. I do not want to give the impression that I know it all or have all the answers. I am still learning especially from my failures. There are many self- help literatures available now, but there was a time that there were no parenting classes. Also, there was very little literature on parenting. So I am sharing some of my failures and hopefully you will not make the same mistakes.

1. Toddlers Sitting Still.

There was a time I did not realize all toddlers would not sit still most of the time like you or I. I went through trials and errors trying to make my toddlers sit still in church, at school programs, etc. I learned it is not that important. There were other alternatives such as taking them out of the room and walking and talking with them. Telling them some of my expectations.




Parents Walking With Toddler







2. Toddlers Are Not Perfect.

At one point I thought I was a super mom or super nanny. I realized that I was not perfect, so why should I expect my toddlers to be perfect. I make mistakes so will my toddlers. I have changed my mind, so will my toddler.


3. Toddlers Imitate What You Do And Say.

Toddlers are ever learning so they watch you and imitate you. So you want to show them good behaviors to emulate. I used to smoke. So it was an eye opener to see my toddler imitating me smoking. I put my feet on the coffee table while watching TV. My toddler took his chair and sat in it and put his feet on the coffee table also.



Toddler In Mother's Heels






4. Strong Disciplinarian.

I learned the hard way that there is a time and place to say “No.” to your toddlers, especially if something is harmful to them. I learned to pick my battles. I would tell my toddlers no about almost everything. For example, “Don’t touch that table, don’t touch that picture, no-no.” No wonder a toddler can learn the word “no” so readily.



Mother scolding toddler







So these were a few of my failures that I learned from. I hope that others will be able to learn from a few of my mistakes.


Tips:

Learn lessons from failures.

Do not beat yourself up over your mistakes. Move forward.

First time parents will learn by trial and error.

Remember toddlers will be the adults for the future.

Educate yourself and learn from the mistakes of others.

Photo captions: Fotosearch.com