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Child development expert Siggie Cohen, drawing on direct work with more than 5,000 children and their families, has identified a single communication mistake she says parents make every day — and warns it consistently backfires.
Her top parenting rule, she argues, is "surprisingly simple" and widely overlooked. One Pattern Repeated Across 5,000 Cases Cohen's assessment is not based on a narrow sample.
More than 5,000 families form the foundation from which she has drawn her conclusion that one specific communication error is both common and counterproductive.
The mistake she identifies is a daily behavior, not an occasional lapse — meaning, by her account, most parents are repeating it regularly without recognizing the cost.
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