Golden nugget of parenting advice

Parenting Blogger Frederick Goodall shares his Golden Nugget of parenting advice on the importance of not stressing over the little things in parenting
Golden Nugget of Parenting Advice from Frederick Goodall
KidsInTheHouse the Ultimate Parenting Resource
Kids in the House Tour

Golden nugget of parenting advice

Comment
96
Like
96
Transcription: 
The golden nugget of parenting advice that I give to people often is that there are no perfect parents. Stop stressing about being a perfect parent because it will never happen. I see so many people get so worried, "Oh, my son's not crawling, my son's not walking, my son's not doing whatever," and they think it's all because of the things that they've done. They think they're bad parents. You're not a bad parent. People parent differently, and we have to understand that. We also have to understand that we're going to make mistakes. We're going to have frustrations. Situations are going to occur that we simply don't have the answer for. That's okay also. What we must do is figure out how we deal with these situations, how we rebound from these mistakes, and how we use these lessons to become better parents. Children need to trust their parents. We have to build those bonds of trust with our children because they really need that from us. Once we break that bond of trust, all is lost, really. It is hard to rebuild that trust, so we have to do the things that are necessary to build trust with our children, to let them know that we love them, and parent them in a way that is unique and specific to them.

Parenting Blogger Frederick Goodall shares his Golden Nugget of parenting advice on the importance of not stressing over the little things in parenting

Related Videos

Transcript

Expert Bio

More from Expert

Frederick J. Goodall

Blogger, "Mocha Dad"

Frederick J. Goodall is a writer, a speaker, and a father. In 2008, he started the popular fatherhood blog, "Mocha Dad" to chronicle his life as a dad and to counter the negative stereotypes regarding black fatherhood. He wanted to give readers a first-hand account of a black father who is intimately involved in his children’s lives. Now he uses the blog to not only capture his experiences, but also to help motivate other men to be more actively engaged and involved with their children, families, and communities.

Through his writing, Goodall attempts to address serious cultural and social issues. His articles and essays have been published in numerous magazines, newspapers, and journals such as The Houston Chronicle, Essence, and Folio Weekly. His work has also appeared in the anthologies: Paper Thin/Soul Deep and The African-American Book of Values. In addition, Goodall is a regular contributor to the websites Mamiverse, Goldfishsmiles, Your Teen Mag, and Together Counts. Goodall also travels the country speaking on the topics of fatherhood, men’s issues, social media, and blogging.

Goodall was born in Houston, Texas and graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C. He currently lives in Houston with his wife and three kids.

More Parenting Videos from Frederick J. Goodall >
Enter your email to
download & subscribe
to our newsletter
  Listen or Watch
Must See First Year Videos
Three important rules about your baby's first foods
First year milestones
Postnatal depression and loneliness advice
Baby losing interest in nursing
The importance of spending quality time during early childhood
Narrating an infant's environment
Research based benefits of co-sleeping
Bonding versus attachment
Bonding with your baby after a less-than-perfect birth
Preventing postpartum depression
Play All 34 Videos
Featured Experts: Alan Greene, MD, Lawrence Kagan, MD, Barbara Olinger, MSW
More Playlists >
Transcription: 
The golden nugget of parenting advice that I give to people often is that there are no perfect parents. Stop stressing about being a perfect parent because it will never happen. I see so many people get so worried, "Oh, my son's not crawling, my son's not walking, my son's not doing whatever," and they think it's all because of the things that they've done. They think they're bad parents. You're not a bad parent. People parent differently, and we have to understand that. We also have to understand that we're going to make mistakes. We're going to have frustrations. Situations are going to occur that we simply don't have the answer for. That's okay also. What we must do is figure out how we deal with these situations, how we rebound from these mistakes, and how we use these lessons to become better parents. Children need to trust their parents. We have to build those bonds of trust with our children because they really need that from us. Once we break that bond of trust, all is lost, really. It is hard to rebuild that trust, so we have to do the things that are necessary to build trust with our children, to let them know that we love them, and parent them in a way that is unique and specific to them.