What Are Your Favorite Sketchy Parenting Techniques That Totally Work?
When you think about having kids, you might have a certain image in mind: well-behaved kids playing cute and taking turns on the swings in the backyard, or family movie nights where everyone agrees on a movie, or family dinners where everyone eat what they need. you serve without complaint. However, once you actually have children, you realize that raising (arguing) children looks very different, especially when they reach an age where they realize that they have both will and some strategies for manifesting it.
I started thinking about this when I was talking to a professional friend the other day, and she admitted that getting her kids ready for school in the morning was such a disaster that she started putting them to bed in school clothes to make the process easier. . It was admitted with a touch of shame at first, as if it would someday pop up in a Mommy Dearest -style memoir, but even as a non-parent, I thought it was brilliant. Just walking the kids out the door day after day in skimpy outfits is a triumph in itself – who cares if their clothes look a little wrinkled than usual?
It got me thinking that there are probably a lot of these slightly sketchy but absolutely effective parenting tips out there. I want to know your secret, shameful ways to hunt down your ragamuffins, get them to eat healthy food (or just food), convince them to pack their toys, or get them to stop procrastinating before bed – the kind of tricks you only confess to other weary parents.
For parents who need new strategies (or just encouragement and support to use the ones they already know and love), share your most sketchy tips and tricks in the comments and we’ll collect them in the next post.