Help ... i must be a self obsessed parent ...

With 35 cumulative experience of dragging up ones own offspring and a collective experience of fostering at least nine children, i can say with conviction that I am still an amateur when it comes to raising children.

Every child presents new, entertaining and informative challenges and depending on your level of sleep depravation and caffeine high (or low). So, when I encounter other parents attempting to share sagely wisdom on how their offspring compares to some magical norm of childhood, i am happy to share.

..... your poor children often raise themselves in spite of our clumsy ministrations.

If we are lucky, some of our attempts to influence their development and behaviour rubs off on them.

Soooo please, please, don't be precious. We do see many mistakes being made, as we have made them and sit back and laugh. We are still making many mistakes and get it wrong on an almost daily basis. If you think you are a good parent, get over yourself, it wears thin very quickly.

If you are a paranoid parent, i can only advise that the ultimate unpleasant experience has taught us that the probability of something happening is so low. Chances are that you cannot stop it, no matter how much you concern yourself otherwise.

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