No father is perfect, and Ben Montgomery of Heroic Fatherhood Development wants you to be thinking of simple “principle-based” tactics in order to push forward your parent-child relationship. As such, Montgomery’s got a list of 10 common dad-mistakes that are immensely helpful in becoming…well…Super Dad.

We won’t ruin Montgomery’s list, so you’ll have to head over to Heroic Fatherhood Development for the whole thing. But we wanted to mention one of the good points: Number 5 on the list is “too many rules.” One of the best lessons you can learn with a toddler is to “let go” a little. In our home, the rule is “if it’s harmful/destructive, stop him…if it’s annoying, let him do it (to an extent).” Though we don’t like to hear the most annoying sound in the world, letting our kid make the sound is better in the long-run to adding another “NO!” or “STOP!” to the day. Think about how many times you’ve got to tell your little kid NO, STOP, DON’T TOUCH, DANGER, etc. Letting what truly doesn’t matter slide will make both of your days a little easier.

Check out the rest of Montgomery’s list in the sauce below.

(image vandalized from Flickr user pugawug)