How Well Do Your Kids Get Along?
I'm curious...How well do your children get along? Do they love each other? Would they say that if you asked them? What would you say contributed to the state of their relationship today? I've got more thoughts on this, but I'm interested in your answers first. :)...
Rehearsing Wisdom
I rehearse situations in advance with my kids. Does that qualify me as a little batty? Never mind. Don’t answer that. Okay. So here’s what I do. Any time I notice that there’s an opportunity for the boys to make a bad decision, I outline briefly what the situation...
2 Ways to Tease Your Children
One of the benefits of having kids is being able to tease them. Come on...you know you love it too! An old standby for Hubby and I is the "What's for Dinner" conversation. It goes something like: child: What's for dinner? parent: Food. child: What kind of food?...
I Signed Them Up For What??
I may have mentioned that we signed the older boys up to play football this fall. I personally am more fond of them playing soccer; I like the schedule and the level of competition is pretty tame. However, there was a great deal of "football is my FAVORITE game" from...
Family Builders: Bowling
Up next in the Family Builders series: Bowling. This is a sport that gets you up and moving a bit without excessive strain. Cheering each player on while encouraging them to improve their game helps with sportsmanship and strengthens children's sense of the family...
Do You Keep Your Promises to Your Kids?
I was randomly watching a morning news program several months ago and saw an interview with Stephen Covey that fascinated me. He was talking about building relationships with children, and the specific point he made was to never break a promise. “No sweat,” I thought...
Do Your Kids Apologize Without a Power Struggle?
I haven't talked much about Love and Logic lately and I want to give you an update. After reading the books 3 or so years ago I still see great wisdom in the approach. I'll be honest: being loving while I'm being logical doesn't exactly come easy. 🙂 Logic....I've got...
How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Whine
Child begins whining about an offense (imagined or real). Adult kneels down and listens to said complaint. Child whines again. Adult repeats complaint to child, thus demonstrating an amazing ability to understand and empathize with said complainant. Child whines....
Links 07-08-08
Well, here's the last of my food series from GNMParents (now archived at ForeverParenting.com). I’ve written boatloads about various fruity ideas for the past 3 weeks, today I want to finish the series by discussing some ways to preserve summer vegetables. Common ways...
What Kind of Parent Do You Want To Be?
I've been thinking more lately about what I would love my home to look like 5 years from now. The older boys would be 15 by then, and I've been realizing that I have a pretty clear picture in my head of what kind of Mom I want to be...what kind of relationship I want...