Parenting Nuggets

Before I was a mom, I was giving my 4 year old niece some grape juice in a cup.  I asked her dad how much to give her. 

His reply, "only as much as you want to clean up when it gets spilled."

Cut to today.  My six year old has hit the spilling phase.  Pretty much a day doesn't go by, that a cup of something doesn't get knocked over. 

Then it occurred to me...instead of putting her drink in a cute, yet unbreakable, plastic princess cup, why not put it in a heavy glass?  We have these seriously solid "French working man" glasses.  Takes two hands for her to lift.  Takes lots of force to knock over.  Our spills have been greatly reduced. 

Other great pieces of advice I've received:

• When your child says they are going to throw up....believe them.
• Underpants for small children are inexpensive...it's okay to throw them away after a poop incident.
• 2 weeks worth of socks and underwear is not an excessive amount.
• Not everything needs to be negotiable.
• Sometimes you just gotta say "knock it off"
• There's no such thing as too much snuggling.
• It's only paint.
• Don't be afraid of a little dirt.
• Say yes, more than you say no.
• Children should have an expiration date.  Somewhere around 18 years after they are born, at which point it's not unreasonable to expect them to behave like an adult.
• Think of the teenage years as "grownup practice."

What great pieces of advice have you received?