RULE 57
Don’t try to have a perfect child
Rule 2 was about you not being perfect. Well, now it’s your child’s turn. If you try to bring up your child to be perfect you will, quite obviously, fail. You’ll also put them under unfair pressure and, as we Rules parents have worked out by now, it’s all too easy to pressurise our children and it’s a Bad Thing.
In any case, who wants a perfect child? In fact, more to the point, what is a perfect child? I can’t imagine such a thing. Every child I’ve ever met who was impeccably behaved and never put a foot wrong, strove to please their parents and their teachers, worked hard at school and always handed in their homework on time, was the most boring characterless little prig imaginable.
All the kids I’ve ...
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