Tag Archive for: loving family

Building Your Creative Child

I’ve encountered a number of parents who, in their zeal to have “creative” children, resist discipline in their parenting process. They explain that they “want their child to be free to create” and to be “undiminished by structure”…

Parenting – The Shared Adventure

What happens when two strong individuals come together to raise a child?  Are they able to surrender control?  How do they deal with sharing tasks?  Who gets to be right and who gets to be wrong?  How can they make positive communication…

Necessity is the Mother of Happiness

None of us should expect to be happy all the time.  We can, however, choose to be happy most of the time, and being happy is not only a matter of perspective, but also a healthy long-term strategy. Although the expression is "Necessity is…

A Lazy Dad is Not All Bad

“Lazy” isn’t a word that is often associated with “better,” but I must confess that I am, and have always been, a lazy father.  Sure, I’ve coached a lot teams, driven a bunch of carpools and changed my share of diapers – but I’ve…

A Great Birthday Gift for Toddlers

There are few better opportunities to teach our children about the feelings of others than their birthdays – and the way we celebrate them. Birthday parties thrown for one-year-olds are clearly done for the benefit of the parents and posterity. …

K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple from the Start

Yesterday, I had the very entertaining opportunity to participate in morning drop-off at a local pre-school. In my capacity at the door, I observed several parenting styles at work – some I thought were quite efficient, and some I observed…

Happy Parents = Happy Kids

I wrote “Raising Children That Other People Like to be Around” because, after 36 years of marriage and 4 children, I believe that being good parents requires us to set a good example – and having a good relationship is the first, most…
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Yes, I Locked My Kid in the Car

One day, when Aaron was about around two years old, JoAnn went out to runs some errands, leaving Aaron and me to wash my beloved navy blue two-door Fiat (because that's what guys do to bond).  The car, being a European two-door coupe, had…

Are You a WIMPY Parent ?

Here are five quick tests: Do you…let your children boss you around?   (Do they say things like “Where’s my breakfast?”) Do you…make excuses for your children? (“She would have said ‘Thank you.’ but she was too busy playing.”) Are…

What’s a Mommy or a Daddy Anyway?

or...  EXCUSES PART TWO In a previous blog I addressed the folly of parents too frequently accepting excuses from our children. I also mentioned the possibility of parents actually making up excuses on behalf of their kids – as in, they…