One of the biggest mistakes parents make, according to Dr. Tsabari, author of The Conscious Parent, and which I found very interesting, is that many parents want their kids to just be little mini-me's and parents can often times impose their will too heavily on their children.  To continue that thought, some parents dont allow their child to truly blossom into the kind of person their children wants to grow up to be because they keep thinking that their child should just be little extensions of who they are.  Please dont misunderstand, It is so important for a parent to guide and provide an example for their child; it is the overpowering and not acknowledging of their own identity that is not healthy.

This is more so about the parents' issues than anything else.  Before becoming a parent, Dr. Tsabari states that new want-to-be-parents need to remember that they need to deal with any of their own outstanding childhood issues, traumas and hang-ups before they have their own children.  Without doing this, you're simply transferring your issues over to your kid(s) and trying to get them to be who you think they should be (or who you always wanted to be) without acknowledging their own tastes.

As a teacher, I can see first-hand everyday how kids can try to talk to their parents about issues and things that are bothering them because YES, children WILL look to their parents for advice, guidance, help and a sound head.  If you're not listening to them and just imposing what you want, how can you expect to have happy and fulfilled children as they are growing?  Dont we want to get desirable, authentic, long-lasting results, not to mention the respect of your child for allowing them to be their authentic selves??  Also, listening to their wants and taking those into consideration will help ensure that they come to you for help and advice the next time around as well.