For this week’s Two-fer, I’ve got a couple of posts you might want to not only read, but to bookmark for future reference and to pass on to your friends. The first one is about cosleeping (and why babies should not sleep alone), and the second is a great one for homeschoolers and DIY folks…
Tag Archive: Parenting
Two-fer Tuesday: Circumcising Your Daughter, and the Optimal Number of Kids
Because there are so many other writers, both dads and moms, writing about great parenting topics each week, I thought I’d start sharing two links to ‘must-read’ articles each Tuesday (hence the name Two-fer Tuesday). This week, we’ll take a look at what it would be like to consider circumcision for your daughter, and then…
Tiny Commitments: A Daily Dad Schedule
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been noticing the tendency in myself to easily make time for a quick phone call or email during my day if it’s work related, but a reluctance to be able to fit in some of the more important things every day, such as really connecting with my wife…
All Work and No Play Makes Dad a Glum Chum
“Dad is sad. Very, very sad. He had a bad day. What a day dad had!” – Dr. Seuss Sometimes I feel that way – and then I feel bad for letting it affect how I interact with my kids. If I’m stressed, they can see it. If I’m burned out, it shows. We forget…
Why Dads Need to Dig in the Dirt
Dads need to dig in the dirt, to plant trees, to find worms, and to grow low-hanging fruit for their kids. Here’s why. There’s a really nice dad in my neighborhood. A dad who has the time of day for his kids; he speaks gently – it’s obvious how much he loves and respects them….
Spanking: Socialized Child Abuse or Discipline?
The discussions among parents about how we bring up our children tend to be pretty polarized, in my experience. There are those who use the term discipline to describe what they do, and others will propose that we can teach our kids better through showing them the way by our example – by not acting…
Natural Fatherhood: My Credo
I’ve had a number of dads (and moms) ask me why I choose to use the term ‘natural fatherhood’, as opposed to just fatherhood or parenting. One of the first things I bring up is the idea of natural parenting – a parenting style that fits closely with my personal ideals. Everyone defines it a…
10 Tips for Positive Parenting
Sometimes, parenting skills can be learned from the most unlikely places. Like business, for example. I’ve had my own business, managed businesses for others, and worked for a number of employers, both good and bad. The following positive parenting tips all come from lessons I’ve learned during those experiences, and I hope you’ll find something…
Personal Development for Parents: Our Worst Enemy
Personal development and self improvement are topics that really resonate with me, because I struggled for many years with trying to be what everyone else wanted me to be, and I always felt somewhat inferior as a result. Becoming a parent brought those feelings to the surface, and has forced me to constantly take personal…
It’s Not Called Permissive Parenting
The world is full of followers, but you’re not one of them. – JL Glass I once attended a seminar taught by JL Glass (he’s a very funny, charismatic speaker), and he mentioned that he tells his kids that. It got me to thinking about all of the messages we give our children, both verbally…
Good Smells Promote Good Behavior
Scents in our homes may be affecting our kids’ behavior, if we extrapolate the information from a new study on the relationship between ethical behavior and smell. When in a clean-smelling environment, people tend to be more generous and fair, which may give you some ideas for your parenting strategy.
Engagement, Ritual, and Work (video)
How can we as dads (and moms) engage more with our partners and our children? What kind of rituals do we participate in, or create, as families, to honor the changing of the seasons and to celebrate each other? Knowing that kids mimic our actions, if we don’t work in a field that our children…
Fatherhood: 100 Ways to be a Better Father
Fatherhood is a tricky proposition. We all want to be great dads, but chances are, our fathers never sat down with us and taught us how to be one. And we don’t necessarily want to be our fathers. I mean, we want to emulate their positive influence on us, but we also want to do…
Hands Off! Children Who are Spanked Have Lower IQs
The results of new research by a sociology professor show that children who get spanked have lower IQs than those who were not spanked, and those who were frequently spanked show a slower development of mental ability. “All parents want smart children. This research shows that avoiding spanking and correcting misbehavior in other ways can…
Parenting Widens the Political Gender Gap
According to new research from North Carolina State University, women become more liberal and men become more conservative as they become parents. “Parenthood seems to heighten the political ‘gender gap,’ with women becoming more liberal and men more conservative when it comes to government spending on social welfare issues.” – Dr. Steven Greene, NC State
