Parents have a disagreement with their child every other day, according to new research.<br /><br />A survey of 1,000 moms and 1,000 dads of kids ages 0-4 found that the average parent compromises with their child about four times per week.<br /><br />Moms were more likely than dads to acquiesce to bedtime (59% vs 48%), but dads find themselves bargaining more over bathtime (37% vs 28%).<br /><br />But when the battle rages on, parents are ready to step up to the plate: claiming to have mastered bath time (61%), bedtime routines (59%), morning routines (58%) and snuggling and bonding time (58%).<br /><br />Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Baby Magic, results also showed that dads have a slight edge over moms with tantrum control (45% vs 42%). <br /><br />Two-thirds (74%) of respondents’ children have thrown a temper tantrum in the last month, with the average child throwing a little over four per week.<br /><br />And what caused these tantrums? “Because he couldn't fit a toy in his toy car,” “his shirt wasn't pants” and “I wouldn’t let them play in the toilet.”<br /><br />For others, it was “because the dirt on the floor was a monster,” “I gave her spaghetti and she doesn’t like the color red so she refused to eat it” and “he lost his pet worm.”<br /><br />But the parenting doesn’t stop with cleaning up emotional mayhem, as the average parent cleans up at least one mess their child made per day. <br /><br />Most commonly that mess consists of spilled food (72%), residue left from mealtime (70%) or dirt from playing outside (59%).<br /><br />This may be why most parents would rate their home somewhere between five-second rule clean (29%) and well-lived in clean (19%).<br /><br />While half of respondents believe their home is cleaner than other parents, another 50% agree that they are embarrassed by how messy it is. <br /><br />Half of parents said they split parenting duties equally. <br /><br />Parents divide and conquer to handle tasks like running errands with the kids (53%), reading to them (49%) and utilizing teachable moments (48%).<br /><br />Even so, most are just soaking in every moment — so much so that if given the choice to handle mealtime, bedtime or bathtime with their child, most respondents (44%) wouldn’t be able to choose just one. <br /><br />Seven in 10 moms (71%) said they handle bath time the majority of the time, compared to just 24% of dads.<br /><br />But parents aren’t perfect; more than three-quarters (76%) admit they’ve made mistakes.<br /><br />Moms are more likely to feel guilty than dads when they make a mistake (59% vs 44%), but more dads are stepping back and feeling refocused (30% vs 18%).<br /><br />And when they need another voice of reason, parents are turning to their own parents (52%), friends who have kids (43%) and health care professionals (36%).
