A huge parenting pitfall is speaking to your child in wishy-washy, equivocal terms. I'll give you an example. "It's time to get your sweater on, okay?" The word "okay" is probably the worst four-letter word you can use with a child because it conveys that you don't really know what is supposed to happen. It's epidemic. It's part of our culture. Parents really need to be mindful about how they are communicating. "Do you want to get your shoes on now?" That's equivocal. We don't think anything of it, but the young child is really looking to us to be a credible, strong, calm, loving, authority figure. It's clear messages that you want to convey, and limited choices. Too many choices is another big parenting pitfall. I like to limit the amount of choices to the age a child is, plus one. If they are four, they get five choices a day, period.