• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
home header image
SUPPORT US
  • ABOUT
  • GROUPS
  • RESOURCES
  • CONTACT US
  • SUPPORT US

A Good Parent Questions Himself While a Bad One Judges Others

August 24, 2017 by Mike Julianelle

questions parents ask

A parent starts from scratch every day and runs until empty, hoping he has done something right, that one of his lessons actually sticks.

But he won’t know for a while. Not for years. And the lack of feedback, direct or otherwise, makes the job even harder, making it very easy to succumb to self-doubt.

This is why judgment from other parents is so obnoxiously redundant. Every decent parent already constantly questions his own parenting.

Here is a small sampling of the questions that run through nearly every parent’s head nearly every single day:

  • Am I doing this right?
  • Am I patient enough?
  • Do I yell too much?
  • Will he turn out OK?
  • Am I giving her everything she needs?
  • Is he too young to watch Star Wars?
  • Am I setting him up for success?
  • Am I too hard on her?
  • Am I too easy on him?
  • Does she know how much I love her?
  • Am I too distracted?
  • Am I too preoccupied?
  • Am I holding her back?
  • Is this much mac and cheese really healthy?
  • Am I spoiling him?
  • Am I depriving her?
  • Do I expect too much from him?
  • Do I discipline enough?
  • Do I discipline too much?
  • Do I spend enough time with him?
  • Am I too selfish?
  • Do I work too much?
  • Is she too dependent on me?
  • Am I smothering him?
  • Does she eat enough vegetables?
  • Does he eat too much junk food?
  • Does she watch too much TV?
  • Does he get enough exercise?
  • Am I too protective?
  • Am I good role model?
  • Is he learning the right things from me?
  • Am I a good parent?
  • Is it too early for a drink?

I know I’ve missed around ten thousand of these. What are some of the parenting questions you ask yourself every day?

A version of this first appeared on Dad and Buried.

Related

Filed Under: NYC, parenting styles Tagged With: overparenting

About Mike Julianelle

Mike Julianelle is a thirty-something Brooklynite and member of the NYC Dads Group. He shares his experiences as a father and bitches about the ways the existence of his son – not to mention the myriad responsibilities surrounding that existence – is destroying his social life on his blog Dad and Buried.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Join Your Local Group

Your local City Dads Group is a welcoming and diverse community of engaged fathers sharing parenting perspectives, knowledge and experiences.

Join Join your local group

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Find us on Social

  • About City Dads
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

© 2025 City Dads Group :: part of 501(c)(3) nonprofit, All Parents Welcome - All Rights Reserved