Single Parenting Tips: 3 Biggest Mistakes That Single Parents Should Avoid

Single parents usually have a more challenging and difficult time taking care of their kids compared to couples. Because of their lack of time and full-time jobs, many single parents make parenting mistakes that can potentially cause harm to their kids.

However, being aware of the common single parenting mistakes can help single parents do a better job of taking care of their family. About Parenting shared some of these common parenting mistakes and how single parents can avoid them.

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1. Being A Best Friend Instead Of A Parent

Single parents should avoid aiming to be their kids' best friends and try to be their kids' parents instead. Best friends do not discipline each other; they have an informal and casual relationship; they share lots of jokes and give advice and lectures to each other very rarely.

Being a parent requires more respect, wisdom, love, assertiveness and tough love. Trying to be an effective parent instead of a best friend can provide your child with plenty of beneficial things she could not get from anyone else.

2. Enforcing Rules Without Having A Strong Bond

"The time you spend nurturing your relationship in this way will lay a foundation your kids can firmly stand on when they're faced with future temptations and negative influences," About Parenting explains. Single parents should set aside time for their kids to bond with each other through different activities such as storytelling, sharing life experiences, watching movies, reading books together and visiting different places.

3. Spreading Your Own Stress And Anxieties To Your Kids

Single parenting is very difficult indeed. It causes a lot of stress and anxiety for the parents. Balancing a full-time job and your kids without the help of a partner causes a lot of stress and anxiety. However, one big parenting mistake is to make your home miserable by showing your kids just how stressed and how much anxiety you feel about your life.

Therefore, single parents should know how to stay calm around their kids even when the going gets rough. "If you're worked up, you're only going to work up your child," author Michelle LaRowe told Parents.com.