To me, not sweating the small stuff is also about knowing when it is OK to let my kids fail and learn from their mistakes. Like you and others have mentioned, I don’t have the energy or desire to stress over most of the little things that may annoy me, such as dropping food or drinks on the carpet; however, when my kids deliberately throw food or drinks in a fit or tantrum, then I address the negative behaviors every time.

I will admit that every single time one of my kids touches the flat screen TV, I “sweat” it (and address it) even though I know that it probably doesn’t hurt it.

Myself, I think I was allowed to get away with too much as a child, and I tend to overreact to what my kids might be doing, which means my natural inclination is to gripe about every possible infraction.

Clearly, the equal time answer to what is written above would be: “Paying Attention to the Big Stuff”

I agree that we shouldn’t sweat all of the small stuff, but I also think it can go too far when we ignore behavioral problems and buy into the excuse/abdication for effective parenting by saying “kids will be kids.” The challenge for me is drawing that fine line between allowing my kids to have enough outlets to learn and grow versus giving them free reign to do whatever they want.

I guess I feel like it’s more important to pick my battles than it is to NOT sweat the small stuff. If my kids are doing something they shouldn’t do, I’m not going to ignore it. Does that make sense? Sounds like Tom and others might agree.