As a parent I am far from perfect. There will be many mistakes I have made over the years. However, the one thing I have always tried to do is to raise, decent kids with integrity and a realistic sense of self rather than entitled, demanding brats. In my humble opinion, there are a few ways to avoid spoiling a kid:
Giving in to every demand from the kid is not a good idea. Each time the child has a parent give in to an unreasonable demand, it gives them the message that they will get whatever they want regardless of whether it is deserved or affordable.
Saying Yes after saying No is the worst thing to do. It simply sends the child the message that if they are persistent or badly behaved they will get what they want.
Shielding a kid from reality, covering up their flaws and lapses can be a bad idea. People outside the home will not be as kind. It is kinder to the child to have an honest parent who gently points shortcomings and helps the kid overcome them.
Children have to understand that carelessness, negligence and laziness have consequences. A parent may replace a broken gadget, life will not.
Kids will make mistakes. They will fall and hurt themselves. Parents cannot protect them from everything; nor should they. Unless a kid makes their own mistakes, they will never learn how not to make them.
Finding excuses for a child’s failures and blaming others for their mistakes means that you're raising a deluded child. A child must have a realistic understanding of their abilities and should be able to acknowledge their own mistakes and shortcomings.
While as a parent you want your child to have the best and to want for nothing, there is also such a thing as too much pampering. It is important for kids to learn to do stuff for themselves: cleaning their own messes, picking up after themselves, becoming self-reliant and doing age-appropriate chores around the house.
Kids can get cranky and stressed and may end up disturbing others. It is not OK to expect people to be OK with noisy, badly behaved kids of others. So, have a plan, bring along things that keep a kid engaged and incentivise good behaviour.
Helping kids with everything means that the kid never learns to manage on their own. Don’t be a helicopter parent.
Foisting parental ambitions on kids is burdensome. Don't go all Sharmaji ka Ladka on your kid. So while you try not be over indulgent with your child, make sure that you're not too demanding and don’t have any unrealistic expectations either.
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