Parenting | Page 4 of 27

Slack in the leash, #UniteMonday and team parenting

I’m a Sisterhood of the Motherhood Partner and was compensated for this post. All thoughts are our own. Before I was a dad I was a pet owner. It was two fabulous dogs, living with me and two fabulous cats who begrudgingly accepted the circumstances of the two canines. I’d let Abby and Wilson have enough fun on these walks to have smell things, look silly and get their exercise. They had a kick running and it was good for my fitness, but it wasn’t the best for their training. Because of that I learned that I had to control the show, even though part of the goal was for them to have fun, they couldn’t get too far away from what they knew or how they should act. Parenting, especially during the holidays and on the weekend is akin to this. #UniteMonday is about dealing with the potential guilt or judgment that comes after these times, realizing that it’s all OK and encouraging positive thoughts.

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Kind spotting, #Kindawesome and the power of simple deeds

Hey there, I partnered with Life of Dad and KIND for this promotion. “Mommy, why are we poor”, she said as she came home from school. This family was not poor; they’re a nice upper middle class that live just down the road from us. The 9 year old daughter’s friends however, must have had a more affluent lifestyle. My wife and I share this story between us often as a barometer that we need to keep our children humble and have them realize that people have a wide variety of needs, wants and possessions. KIND Snacks is touching on this topic for us now by reminding people how rewarding it is do simple things that are nice. They’ve also created a site, how kind of you, that celebrates random acts of kindness.

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Lassie Come-Home, the 75th Anniversary takes a classic, victory lap

Lassie Come-Home celebrates its 75^th year in print. In 1940 the now-classic story of everyone’s favorite Collie was just coming out. Three years later it was made into a movie where MGM executives were so moved by the story that they kept ordering new scenes to be filmed. The book, Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight, has a special forward by Ann M. Martin of the Baby-sitters Club series and a brand new, separate picture book for younger children.

As a child I never read Lassie. I never saw any movie or television version of the dog, but I was certainly aware of her legacy. For the record, Lassie is a girl in the book, but a boy dog was the on screen in 1943 because the girl kept shedding. Recap: she is a legend in the business.

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The new film from Sisterhood of the Motherhood adds to the chorus of #EndmommyWars

I’m a Sisterhood of the Motherhood Partner and was compensated for this post. All thoughts are our own. There’s a heavyset parent at our school whose arms are covered in tattoos, the even have a couple on their neck. They drop them off in an older model car whose muffler obviously needs to be replaced. The car has a rainbow flag bumper sticker, the ‘namaste’ one, NRA decal and animal rescue too. It’s a train wreck of lifestyles and organizations that only coexists on bumpers and in the minds of those I don’t relate to. The child seems normal and happy; I see them sometimes when I eat lunch with my child. However, I never see their other parent and the tattoo laden driver is never in the school helping out. Plus they look just a little too young to have a child the same age as ours, but here’s what’s really surprising about this person.

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Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods is age OK scares for middle school

Even before you read a single short story from Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods there are many things that draw you into the book. This is a collection of creepy stories that are squarely aimed at the middle school and up crowd. The vocabulary in the book is good for those ages; but the tales might be too spooky for the younger middle school crowd. I was skeptical about the fright value of the book, but its age appropriate scare, (light) gore and monsters are perfect for ages 10 and up.

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Holding onto 5 years old

One of the fabulous things about being a parent you don’t realize until you’re a parent. Sure you can talk about love, responsibility, someone to mow the yard in 10 years, future generations and such. But for us, it’s akin to describing why you like chocolate to someone without any taste buds. As our oldest turned 6 years old we noticed the way that he was dealing with getting older, even at his tender age.

Children have toys. Sometimes they have too many toys. The toys that are no longer challenging or simply meant for a younger age are toys that get under our feet, jam up bedrooms and the like that children never, ever want to part with.

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Zero tolerance and bullies are in league with the ignorant

One thing about the internet, it brings awareness to small incidents that become big things. Sometimes an unintended consequence is the root cause of the awareness and the rage that people feel when the small incident happens. Then the cycle repeats itself. When I went to sleep last night the story was relatively feel-good. A bully was picking on a blind student at Huntington Beach High School. Said bully got his comeuppance when an equally sized youth came up from behind him and smacked him to the ground.

I wake up and the school has suspended the youth who defended the blind student and kicked him off of the football team.

The police arrested the bully and released him back to his parents.

As an adult, there are so many things wrong with this story.

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The new all age comic books for Wednesday, September 23, 1015

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Every Wednesday at least a dozen new all age comic books are delivered to you local comic book store. We’ll highlight all of the ones that are appropriate for any age reader here. This week there is a brand new graphic novel by Peanuts (starring Snoopy!), Adventure Time, Bart Simpson, Doodle Jump, Princeless Be Yourself, Wilds End Enemy Within and others.