Life QotW: Parenting Advice

What parenting tip do you swear by?

• Be consistent.  If it's okay to jump on the couch today, then it should be okay to jump on the couch tomorrow, next week and next month.
  
• Don't threaten with something you can't follow up on.  For instance----Telling your four y/o "If you don't get your shoes and socks on in five minutes I'm leaving without you!"  Because really, you can't just leave your four y/o home alone to fend for himself while you go grocery shopping.  I threatened to leave w/o him---and I had to climb in the van and pull out of the driveway while my child was standing on the sidewalk shoes in hand crying:  "Don't leave me, Mommy!!"  It about broke my heart, but I felt I had to follow through with the threat.  I pulled back into the driveway, gave him a hug and waited while he put his shoes on.
  
• Keep sugar and sweets to a minimum until they are three or four...I hate seeing a toddler walk around with Mountain Dew or sweet tea in his/her baby bottle.  They are building bones, muscle and brains---give their little growing bodies good nourishing stuff.  Save the junk for special occasions.  I convinced mine that ice cream truck was just a nice guy that drove around playing cool music for us to listen to....every day we listened for the 'music truck'...then when he did find out the 'music truck' sold ice cream it was a wonderous thing.
  
• You can't love them to much---they can't hear it too much, either.  Hug and kiss every night and before leaving every day.  They are called 'accidents' because no one plans them.