"Mm..."

Word of advice for all you non-parents out there; "Mm" is your friend.

It is ill-advised, if you don't have children, to weigh in on a parent's dilemma unsolicited. Even when your opinion is asked, you should say as little as possible outside of maybe an anecdotal tale of having gone through a similar situation as a child, what action was taken and how it played out. You should say as little as possible outside of this anecdotal tale because childless folk have an amazing proficiency for inadvertently saying some low key offensive shit. In honesty, childless folk are not the only violators - all kinds of people fall victim to the clean curse out, including other parents. People are uber sensitive when it comes to their children; KNOW this.

So Ima make it real simple for you. Did you see how Will Smith instructed Kevin James to keep his dancing to a simple two-step in Hitch, saying, "You live here?" Well, "Mm" <--- YOU live HERE. Trust me when I tell you that 9 times out of 10 when a parent is talking to you about something concerning their child, they are venting, not soliciting advice. And this is CLEARLY true if you don't even have children - you don't ask a banker how to bake bread.

Now even if you have children, you're still gonna wanna refer to the above rule of thumb and keep it anecdotal or resort to a simple empathetic "Mm" because more likely than not, your well-intended suggestion will be poorly worded and ill-received. Why? Because even though you're trying to help, your "suggestions" often contain buzz words that sound like judgment and an attack on their parenting skills. How dare you, childless wonder, be the judge! LOL NO parent takes kindly to an insinuation that they are not doing their job, which is what you imply by suggesting maybe the kid needs a push. Seems pretty benign on the surface right? Trick bag: suggesting basic shit parents ought to do insinuates that they aren't already doing it. The words "push" and "support" should never leave your lips without the words "keep" or "continue" in front of them, but since you're not likely to remember these instructions when you get all out your lane, just remember an "mm" a day, keeps the reading away LOL.