The 10 worst mistakes that parents make

Philip Larkin said it best:

They f--- you up, your mum and dad.

They may not mean to, but they do.

They fill you with the faults they had

And add some extra, just for you.

Reddit users have recently shared some of the worst things their parents let them do.

We should be clear - this is not a guide to parenting.

1. Letting your child ride the roof of the car.

My dad let us ride on the roof of the car. Amongst other things, he probably wasn't winning any parenting awards, but I thought he was the coolest.

-JeffMartinsMandoin

Picture: Pavel Losevsky/istock

2. Cigarettes

My mom used to buy me cigarettes when I was a teenager. I thought it was cool. Now that I'm a parent, I'm like... f---.

-xplasticastle

3. All of the snacks

Just a s--- ton of sugary snacks. Holy s--- I ate so much sugar as a kid.

-LordFireBeard

Picture: monkeybusinessimages/istock

4. No bedtime

We didn't have any bedtime hours established, I could just go to bed whenever and then miss the first period of classes. This sounds very cool when you're a kid but one day you realise you might have a problem with schedules and discipline.

-kronkspinachpuffs

Picture: istock

5. Calling the police to scare your child into going to school

I have a friend who wasn't feeling well and vocalized his idea to not go to school. His mom called the police on him and cops come over and scare him into going to school.

-Felicity_Badporn

Picture: Steve Debenport/istock

6. Buying your 11-year-old daughter ‘stripper heels’

My mom let me buy what could be considered stripper heels at maybe 11. Platforms and glitter. One of the other moms said 'I can't believe you let her wear those' in front of me. Needless to say my mom was p---ed off at the other mom. Looking back I can sort of understand.

-develledia

Picture: maiteali/istock

7. Allowing your child to go to bed without brushing their teeth

Skip brushing my teeth at night.

-blablalou

Picture: Everste/istock

8. Unsupervised target shooting

Early 2000s, I was around 11-12 years old. Id come home from school, unsupervised, get in the gun cabinet and grab my .22 rifle and box of shells and go target shooting outside.

-beeboopitty

Picture: DIGIcal/istock

9. Unsupervised internet access

Unsupervised access to the internet from when I was probably nine? 10?

-starzined

Picture: Lenny Jones/istock

10. Facilitating drug use

My mother bought me a bong for my sixteenth birthday.

-alaron70

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