As soon as you become a mother everyone around you starts acting like a parenting expert or childcare specialist. Your parents, in-laws, friends, cousins, colleagues, neighbors and even random people you meet in supermarkets or bus journeys offer you generous doses of advice on what you should and should not do as a parent. Unwanted and unsolicited advice from strangers can be dismissed easily with a passive smile or an “um, thanks”. But things can get hard when harmless, yet annoying parenting advice comes from your family members or people you know personally. Here are a few tips to help you deal with unwanted parenting advice:
1. Don’t dismiss every advice
Parenting is a hard task in itself and it can become harder when you have a bunch
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A couple of decades ago people couldn’t even imagine giving their kids sex-education. Rigorous studies and researches are conducted all over the world to understand the changing patterns of child behavior and development. It is absolutely mandatory that you keep yourself educated and updated in the fundamentals of parenting. Join an online community or subscribe to the newsletter of a reputed childcare organization. Make sure that the community you join understands and discusses specific issues of the culture you live in. Equipped with a sound knowledge on parenting, you will be able to tackle unwanted advice …show more content…
Interrupt them shamelessly and dole out some advice of your own.
Be politely firm: Memorize a couple of standard responses you can use in extremely annoying situations. “Thank you”, “I am happy with this approach”, “Not all parents are the same” etc. can be used as standard responses to ward off unsolicited and rude interventions.
Dismiss through diversion: Suppose your kid throws a big tantrum when your cousin pays a visit. He rudely asks you to you lock your child up in a room until her tantrum subsides, but you are not a great fan of that method. Don’t give him a gyaan on “10 Tips to Deal with Temper Tantrums”. Ask him, “Would you like your tea with or without sugar?”
You can use these strategies and develop your own smart moves to deal with unwanted parenting advices. The key to dealing with annoying advice from friends, family and strangers is to exhibit confidence in what you do and say. Confidence comes naturally if you know yourself and your child well. Feel confident whenever people try to push their ways and theories that are at loggerheads with your knowledge and