Along with theories about parenting styles, there are also theories about parenting practices. These range from attachment parenting (which I practice myself) to extreme variations such as “toxic parenting” (no one would admit to doing this one) and “narcissistic parenting” (very common, but few would cop to this one either).

Toxic parenting is when your parenting style is outright destructive to your child's ability to achieve psychological maturity and independence. All of us are probably guilty of doing or saying something toxic at one point or another, but only abusive parents are toxic on an ongoing basis.

Narcissistic parents see their kids as little extensions of their own egos, ways to live out their failed dreams and unfulfilled ambitions. They enter their kids in auditions and talent shows and that sort of thing, always looking for some kind of external validation for which their children are merely tools.

Another odd choice of parenting practice is “unconditional parenting,” in which you always praise the child no matter what the child actually does. It might seem like common sense that good behavior should be met with praise and bad behavior with discipline, but the unconditional parent sees that as a threat to the child's fragile self-esteem. It seems to me that unconditional parenting is basically a recipe for creating a chronic narcissist. If children receive reinforcement for every behavior, whether good or bad, what outcome can possibly be expected other than an overblown sense of self and a mentality of entitlement?