One of the big reasons How I Met Your Mother was such a hit was the fact that the characters were relatable. They were flawed as friends, lovers, and even parents, and that made them easy to connect with, and is also how the comedy was able to shine through.
Of course, with this being a sitcom, it wouldn't be entertaining if they were perfect parents who never did anything wrong, as that doesn't allow for much comedic value. However, some of the parenting choices certainly left a lot to be desired throughout the series, leaving audiences questioning the characters and their behavior.
Lily and Marshall were always destined to be great parents and for the most part that was the case. However, when it came to choosing who would be Godparent, they literally created a gameshow scenario for their friends to battle it out for the honor.
Becoming a Godparent is supposed to be a big deal and something that is from the heart, choosing people that the parents believe could care for the child. They turned it into something very trivial, which was an odd choice, to say the least.
One of the worst parenting choices from the entire series actually didn't come from the gang themselves. Instead, it was actually how Robin was treated when she was a child. Robin's relationship with her father wasn't a great one, and that was made clear in flashback scenes.
Her father literally refused to accept she was a girl and constantly pushed her to do male activities and treated her like a boy. It's a very odd parenting choice, because even though he may have wanted a boy, going as far as this seemed a little odd.
It isn't just Robin's father who doesn't get shown in a positive light throughout How I Met Your Mother, as Lily's father, Mickey is also not great. Whenever there's a big moment for Lily or a major milestone event, he makes the decision to not be there.
He seemingly has no interest in actually spending time with her or seeing what she's doing, which is a shame, as normally parents want to be as involved as possible. But that just isn't the case with Mickey, who seems to always have something better to do.
Almost missing the birth of your child is a bad parenting choice right from the very start and that is almost what happened to Marshall. He ends up choosing to go on a trip to Atlantic City with Barney, despite Lily being heavily pregnant, and it does come incredibly close to him missing it.
It is actually Lily's decision to send Marshall on the trip, which actually makes this a bad parenting decision by both of them. However, the fact Marshall chooses to get drunk and turn his phone off really makes for a bad choice on his behalf.
One thing about Ted that is clear is the fact he loves sharing and having his friends and family be as involved as possible in his life. However, he doesn't pick up that trait from his parents, as they made the odd choice to literally tell him nothing.
They don't share that his own grandmother has passed away, keeping Ted totally in the dark. They also don't reveal to him that they actually are divorced either, keeping the illusion of being together, seemingly to make him happy, but it actually has the opposite effect.
Everyone knows that it is always Ted's way or the highway, as he is quite forceful about his opinions throughout the series. That is even the case during his relationship with Stella, where he is briefly in a stepfather role to her daughter Lucy, which she had with a previous partner.
Stella and Lucy live together in New Jersey, happily, but Ted demands that she moves to New York simply because he doesn't want to live anywhere else. His selfish behavior would happily see Lucy's life totally uprooted for no real reason, which is a terrible parenting decision.
Earlier in the list, we mentioned how Robin's father treated her like a boy, and that was certainly a terrible parenting choice. But the time that he sent her off to a pack of wolves on her own was worse. They were 'bonding' in a helicopter when he ditched her in the forest for three days, with his only advice being where the wolves typically are.
It's a terrible piece of parenting and obviously isn't a good choice to make in the slightest. It explains a lot of Robin's issues in detail and really does highlight how not to be a father.
Barney's mother, Loretta clearly made the decision to hide Barney and James' real fathers with good reason. She wasn't doing it to be spiteful or cruel, but the fact she continued the lie all the way into adulthood was a little bit too far.
Barney spent his entire life believing that the legendary Bob Barker was his father, which is utterly ridiculous for anybody to think. However, it's also something that made Barney look foolish and ended up just causing more hurt.
While Ted and Barney obviously don't end up actually becoming parents together, the fact that they even think of the idea shows bad choices. They literally want to adopt a baby together to help them impress women, to the point where they do so outside of Ted's place.
It's an episode that follows them using the baby to attract women, which obviously isn't a good example of parenting. It tests their friendship due to the demands of having to look after a child, and it is certainly one of the worst ideas.
Arguably the strangest parenting choice of the entire show was actually the premise of the series. The show is told as a story, with Ted telling his children about his life and how he eventually met their mother. However, it ended up just being an elaborate plan to get their approval to ask Robin out on a date, which is quite strange when you think about it.
On top of that, some of the stories and extra details that Ted shared really aren't things you'd want to tell your children. At points, it's easy for the audience to forget Ted's telling his children everything, but when you break down the stories and scenes, they're certainly funny for television, but not for the situation in which Ted is revealing them.
