How to Tell if You Are REALLY a Bad Mum

5. You Yell at your Children

OMG if I had a dollar for every time I yelled at my kids I would be rich. �I am a self-admitted yeller! �The thing is – the frustrating thing is – I start out asking them to do something, nicely – and in a very normal voice. �And then when they ignore me (which they always do), I get progressively louder, and louder, and LOUDER until I lose my shit!!!!! �This, my friends, is perfectly sane and normal behaviour for a Mum.

What would ACTUALLY make you a bad Mum?

You know those parents that use the C word in public? Really really loudly – yeah, don’t do that!

6. You Don’t Discourage Bad Behaviour

Manners count. �They do. But kids, like us, get annoyed at stuff, and we really should cut them some slack occasionally. �My son hated his teacher last year… HATED HER. �And there was little old me telling him that he had to always be respectful of his elders and be polite… until I actually HEARD the way the teacher spoke to him. �It is give and take. �And kids do learn by example.

What would ACTUALLY make you a bad Mum?

If your kids did that ALL THE TIME. �There is a time and place to let your kids get away with bad manners or behaviour.

7. You spoil your child rotten

Personally, I don’t see the point in all in having kids if you can’t spoil them often. �Not all the time, but often. �And most parents do – we want our kids to be happy. �We also don’t want them to be tossers and sometimes due to behaviour, money or both, we have to say a good ol’ fashioned NO to them! �My child was jealous when his friend got a motorbike. �He is entitled to be jealous, but he isn’t entitled to be an ass about it. �The child that received the motorbike was so humble that his parents saved up to buy it for him – and good on them! �They worked hard, and their child was so appreciative. �Who is in the wrong – my child! �But he will learn.

What would ACTUALLY make you a bad Mum?

If your child started saying ‘I want an Oompa Loompa Daddy, and I want it NOW!!’.

Are you a BAD Mum? Or just a normal one?

Clare Whitfield Chief Editor

Clare Whitfield is the Editor of Stay at Home Mum and a recognised voice in practical home management for Australian families. Based in the northern suburbs of Sydney, she balances editorial leadership with life as a stay at home mum to two school age children. Her background in home economics and more than a decade of experience in recipe development, family budgeting, and household systems inform her work.

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