What is the worst parenting advice you've ever gotten?

I go to Starbucks nearly every Wednesday when our babysitter comes. It is near the house, smoke-free and a decent place to sit n' knit. It is like having my own weekly Stitch n' Bitch where I am the only audience for my litany of complaints. I sit with my iPod, sticks and yarn while I escape for an hour in thoughts. It is pretty nice.

Yesterday, I ordered my usual 3 shots of espresso and as the "barista" handed it over she commented, "You're crazy!!". It was all I could to not retort back, "Actually, you are the one who is crazy. You call yourself a barista, yet you are not even pulling your own shots because that automated machine back there does it for you and furthermore, you just served this to me in a cappuccino cup instead of a demitasse". Somehow, I did not think she would appreciate, much less comprehend the sarcasm. Whatever. For the record, 3 shots of espresso has less caffeine than most of the fancy drinks dispensed there AND no sugar.
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The other day, I went up to get Arun when he had woken up from his nap. He was crying and I checked to see if his pants were wet from a leaky diaper. I exclaimed "Oh good, your pants are not wet!" and he sniffled back "No, eyes are wet. EYES are wet." Cannot argue with Toddler Logic.
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Another question from Goofy Girl: "What's the worst parenting advice you've ever gotten?" I generally do not talk about what I am about to talk about. It is a loaded subject and one I do not care to argue about - everyone has to do what they feel is best for their child, so why fight about it? Right? However, since Goofy asked, I will answer.......

Without a doubt, I think the worst advice has been variations on the theme of "Just let your kid cry it out. Otherwise, you will spoil him". Yeah - that makes a lot of sense. And folks, I am not talking about fussing for 15-30 minutes or so. I am talking about crying. Sobbing. Wailing. Against my Mommy Gut, I did try it a few times and ended up with a shaking, snotty, puking kid. Who then took even longer to calm down than the original amount of attempted CIO. Again, the Mommy Gut? Needs to lose a few inches, but she still holds true.

My favorite Wise Parenting Tome, The Science of Parenting by Margot Sunderlandd is based on extensive brain research by Jaak Panksepp. I LOVE this book as it looks at the science of what is going on in our wee ones' heads. Often, our kids do not make sense to us and this book helps us to understand why (I love the section on tantrums - GOLD.) {EDITED: I had a bit of a diatribe here about my anti-CIO opinions. Then, I went to take a shower and thought about it. Yeah, this is my space to rant, but I felt my diatribe was not respectful to my friends. We are all just parents, trying to do our best. So I deleted some of what I said. I left the part about the book in because it truly is one of my favorite parenting books and does a great job of explaining why CIO can be harmful to your baby. Still, I would love to hear what your own worst piece of advice has been. Peace.}