Norms regarding childhood and parenthood differ between social contexts. The present study focuses on Swedish middle-class parents of young children. Based on semi-structured interviews, the study aims to explore norms and ideals regarding children’s emotions and how parents should respond to them. Analysis is informed by discursive psychology, with a focus on ideological dilemmas. Most parents acknowledged an ideal where children are seen as entitled to their own emotions and having the full right to express them. Related to this, two different parenting ideals were identified. The first stipulates that parents should allow and validate the child’s emotional expressions. The second stipulates that parents should be in control of their own emotions, in order to enable children to express theirs. Both ideals were negotiated by the parents as they contradict other ideals and everyday realities.