7 Basic Social Rules EVERY Parent Should Follow
This is the first and most important rule. It's ok to talk about sleep difficulties, dietary worries, potty problems, or other such hot-topic parental fodder, but here's the thing: don't ONLY talk about these things. Otherwise, you turn into a bore. Think of it this way - when you go out for drinks or lunch with a colleague, doesn't it get tiring to just talk about the office? Give yourself twenty minutes or so of parenting chatter and then change tracks. What else is going on your life? This could be as light as talking television, or as deep as dishing about relationships and sex. Whatever the case, don't obsess over your kids. And please, don't talk about shopping for your kids. This is the height of banality.
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Every so often, I have flashbacks of those years on the playground with my toddler son, when I'd have to make various forms of small-talk with other parents about his nap schedule, his diet, my thoughts on school options, my opinions on diapers. Afterward, I'd push the stroller home feeling pent-up and trapped. On many days, those slim hours at the playground marked my only time to socialize with other adults, and what did we talk about? Only our kids. In situations like this, a stay-at-home parent's world can feel small real fast. And so I ask you, parents: must we always talk parenting? It takes effort being an individual and not just a cog in the family machine, to be an adult as well as a parent. I see that as part of the work of parenting. I'm happy to know that I'm not alone in this. All of the friends I connect with on a parenting level are also people that I share interests with outside of our kids. We talk books and movies, cooking and dining out, culture and politics, or just dish about this and that. I'm a parent, of course. But not only a parent. And so, with that in mind, I present a short primer in parent-to-parent etiquette, a guide in how to talk to other parents without being rude, overbearing, or just plain boring. -By Brian Gresko
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