One of the most frustrating pitfalls in parenting is over-fussing. Especially with our first child, we want to make sure everything is perfect - we fuss over their food, their clothes, their diaper creams... We aim to be the perfect parents and do our best to create the perfect systems for them.
But often, the fussing is too much.
Picture this: your (perfect) cranky baby is finally falling asleep, and you notice his foot is stuck inside the crotch of his onesie. Do you: a) ignore the stuck foot and just let him sleep, or b) try to gently dislodge the stuck foot, inadvertently waking up the baby and creating an exhausted-screaming-frenzy?
OR: your (perfect) 4-year-old has dressed herself. She has chosen a beautiful pastel shirt with paisleys to go with an adorable burgundy skirt with white polka-dots. Do you: a) let her go to school as-is, admiring her unique style, or b) gently suggest switching skirt or shirt for something that matches and inadvertently setting her off on a tantrum because her favorite purple shirt is ALWAYS in the laundry and why can't she wear it just because it had some chocolate spilled on the sleeve!?
It's a tough but important lesson to just let the kid be.
I have often tried to "fix" a "problem" and actually made the problem much worse (or morph into a different and bigger problem). It's important to remind yourself that if it aint broke, don't fix it. Leave it alone and take a breather - you probably won't remember this problem/issue/day/year very well, when you look back, anyway.
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