I thought...

I thought that if I helped my kids as much as possible, they would become helpful kids.
It turns out, that it makes them helpless to tie their own shoes, put in their own pony-tails, or get their own drink of water.

I thought that if I discussed decisions with my children, that we would come to unifying consensuses. 
It's left me with arguments on every topic from every child every day.

I thought that if I ignored whining and tantrums that it would eliminate them.  That's what everybody tells you will happen.  They're wrong. 
It just makes the whining pervasive, the crying louder, and the tantrums more intense.

I thought that if we had very little screen time in our home that it would help our kids find useful, enlightening, creative, active things to do. 
It actually creates screen-starved children that will glue themselves to any baby show that Lucy might be watching or play solitaire on a one-inch screen with shoddy graphics late at night in their bedroom.

I thought that introducing children to a variety of foods would lead to a broad and accepting palette. 
It's actually led to so many determined preferences that making a meal is like navigating a mine field. 

I think I'm having second thoughts about it all.