Biggest parenting regret or mistake

[Anonymous]

Afraid passing adhd to son

[Anonymous]

Having kids in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Fighting in front of my kids.

[Anonymous]

Wish I hadn't worried so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish I had listened my instincts that his public middle school was harming him. I was (and really, still am) a supporter of public schools, and I think that blinded me to the struggle right in front of me. It made me predisposed to believe the principal who told me everything was fine, when it was not. The harm done was significant, as was the blossoming that occurred when we finally got him out that environment. It’s been years later and I still see the impact, though fortunately he is doing very well as a young adult now. But I will always regret what we put him through.

Are you me? You HAVE to be talking about MCPS…only difference? W elementary school - child was shamed for dyslexia. Should have pulled but at least I confronted the principal when we left. Liars. Damn unethical liars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish I had listened my instincts that his public middle school was harming him. I was (and really, still am) a supporter of public schools, and I think that blinded me to the struggle right in front of me. It made me predisposed to believe the principal who told me everything was fine, when it was not. The harm done was significant, as was the blossoming that occurred when we finally got him out that environment. It’s been years later and I still see the impact, though fortunately he is doing very well as a young adult now. But I will always regret what we put him through.

It’s middle school. I’m sure he’s fine. If that’s your biggest regret you did pretty well.

[Anonymous]

Being too permissive, allowing too much privacy, and not being more in tune during the high school/teenage years. I think this mistake led to poor choices that impacted the college years which is impacting adulthood.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I worry that I focus too much on my own career and life. I mean, I'm home for dinner 90% of the time, used to travel a fair amount but that has cut back since COVID, so I'm not totally absent - just dividing my attention. My own parents were hyper focused on their own lives and I think my siblings and I suffered for it. Again, we were not neglected or anything (at least not by 80s-90s standards lol, they'd probably be reported today), we just didn't have a lot of hands on parental involvement. But then I think it was also pretty motivating to see what they could do, and we learned a lot of resilience and self-reliance which has served all of us kids well in life. And I'm more hands-on than they were .... So maybe I'm at a good balance point? I don't know. Kids are tweens/teens now, I'll get back to you in 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish I had listened my instincts that his public middle school was harming him. I was (and really, still am) a supporter of public schools, and I think that blinded me to the struggle right in front of me. It made me predisposed to believe the principal who told me everything was fine, when it was not. The harm done was significant, as was the blossoming that occurred when we finally got him out that environment. It’s been years later and I still see the impact, though fortunately he is doing very well as a young adult now. But I will always regret what we put him through.

It’s middle school. I’m sure he’s fine. If that’s your biggest regret you did pretty well.

You have no idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish I had listened my instincts that his public middle school was harming him. I was (and really, still am) a supporter of public schools, and I think that blinded me to the struggle right in front of me. It made me predisposed to believe the principal who told me everything was fine, when it was not. The harm done was significant, as was the blossoming that occurred when we finally got him out that environment. It’s been years later and I still see the impact, though fortunately he is doing very well as a young adult now. But I will always regret what we put him through.

Are you me? You HAVE to be talking about MCPS…only difference? W elementary school - child was shamed for dyslexia. Should have pulled but at least I confronted the principal when we left. Liars. Damn unethical liars.

I regret leaving my child at a school that was a terrible fit for her as long as I did too. It was a private that was supposed to have a lot of resources. Really wish I could go back in time…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish I had listened my instincts that his public middle school was harming him. I was (and really, still am) a supporter of public schools, and I think that blinded me to the struggle right in front of me. It made me predisposed to believe the principal who told me everything was fine, when it was not. The harm done was significant, as was the blossoming that occurred when we finally got him out that environment. It’s been years later and I still see the impact, though fortunately he is doing very well as a young adult now. But I will always regret what we put him through.

Are you me? You HAVE to be talking about MCPS…only difference? W elementary school - child was shamed for dyslexia. Should have pulled but at least I confronted the principal when we left. Liars. Damn unethical liars.

PP here. Not MCPS. I’m so sorry this happened to you too.

[Anonymous]

Threatening to leave them in a public place when they were acting out and I couldn’t get the situation under control. I feel so bad about that. I would never have left them but I just was really stressed (about unrelated things) and it made me say something I shouldn’t have. Wish I could go back in time.

[Anonymous]

I would have taught him more housekeeping like 'stuff' and made him more self sufficient. It was easier to do things myself than nag him. He's off to college and doesn't fold his clothes or bother to do minimal pickup.
He's a good kid and I hope we did a good job overall. Parenting is not easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My biggest regret was the pandemic. No childcare, my workload at work doubled and I just had no escape. It was a really hard year and I wish I could redo it. Not sure how I should have done it- quit my job? Intense regret though and I feel like I ruined my children. I've been a wonderful parent since then but I haven't been able to untangle the mess I made during that year. They have behavioral problems that stem from it.

What happened exactly? I feel like that’s more on society/govt than you

[Anonymous]

Not pushing reading more with my son. It holds him back now that he's taking intensified courses. They would be less time consuming, as would writing be, if he had read more.