06
Dec
Say Uncle!
Saying “I told you so!” is not nice.
It’s not gracious, it’s not kind, and it’s certainly not something people like to hear. But that doesn’t mean it’s not satisfying!
In related news: my brother is having a baby.
Tag: children
01
Dec
Glass Half-Full Parenting
One of the great lies that many parents tell themselves is that their kid is perfect.
You know how it is — they’re your little angel and can do no wrong! They’re the cutest baby in the world, and you’re pretty certain they started walking and talking before everyone else’s baby because they’re so smart! Bow down before the greatest child who has ever lived!
This delusion gets harder to maintain as your child gets older and the things they can — and do — do wrong start piling up. But there is a way to keep it alive…
22
Nov
How Do You Teach Gratitude?
Like many parents, I always kind of hoped that my kids would absorb decent human values through osmosis.
That just by being around average, decent people who enact and embody basic human decency on a daily basis – like me and Mom and Buried! – they’d eventually become imbued with those intangible qualities we expect good people t have.
But if my 7-year-old’s lack of gratitude is any indication, it hasn’t been working.
20
Nov
“Not All Men” Is Meaningless and Counterproductive
One night in college, a friend summoned me to her room.
I’d been interested in her for some time – I wanted to be “more than friends” – but up to that point, things had remained chaste. It was late, we’d both been out separately, doing whatever it is we’d been doing, and when I got to her room, she was clearly drunk.
Twenty years later, I still remember how I felt that night.
This is why “NotAllMen” doesn’t matter…
Read more about “Not All Men” Is Meaningless and Counterproductive …
14
Nov
Threats and Bribes
Disciplining your kids is hard.
It requires nuance. You can’t yell all the time, because it loses its effectiveness after a while. You can’t spank ever because you were spanked by your parents when it was acceptable and are now you are totally insane and probably in jail. You need to develop tricks. Time-outs, good cop/bad cop, the Parent Voice, etc.
Most of the time, getting your kids to behave boils down to two strategies: threats and bribes.