Have you ever had one of those evenings where there's nothing on tv and there nothing to do? If you need some entertainment on those boring evenings, let your kids listen to some 80's songs. Listening to them sing the chorus over and over again is all the entertainment you will need.
Example:
Monday, September 8, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tip #6 - Fruit snacks are your best friend
Kids will do anything for fruit snacks. Every parent should have a cupboard dedicated to fruit snacks. When you have a new baby, instead of the hospital giving you a diaper bag with formula samples it should be a diaper bag filled with fruit snack samples.
Example:
When ever the kids are bugging us we usually try to send them downstairs to play or watch TV. Most of the time they refuse to go. They know they are bugging us and want to continue torturing us. Why would they leave? This usually means we need to sweeten the deal with some fruit snacks. The conversation usually goes like this:
Us: Go downstairs and play. You're bothering us.
Them: No.
Us: Go downstairs.
Them: No.
Us: Go downstairs.
Them: No.
Us: If you go downstairs we'll give you some fruit snacks.
Them: FRUIT SNACKS!!!! (as they run down the stairs)
It works every time. And for those parents who are worried about the sugar content or the artificial coloring, just remember, they have "fruit" in their name so they can't be that bad, right?
Example:
When ever the kids are bugging us we usually try to send them downstairs to play or watch TV. Most of the time they refuse to go. They know they are bugging us and want to continue torturing us. Why would they leave? This usually means we need to sweeten the deal with some fruit snacks. The conversation usually goes like this:
Us: Go downstairs and play. You're bothering us.
Them: No.
Us: Go downstairs.
Them: No.
Us: Go downstairs.
Them: No.
Us: If you go downstairs we'll give you some fruit snacks.
Them: FRUIT SNACKS!!!! (as they run down the stairs)
It works every time. And for those parents who are worried about the sugar content or the artificial coloring, just remember, they have "fruit" in their name so they can't be that bad, right?
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Parenting Tip of the Day?
Maybe I shouldn't have called my blog "Parenting Tip of the Day". Maybe I should have went with "Occasional Parenting Tip". It's been a crazy couple of weeks. You can check out all the details on my wife's blog. I have a whole list of tips just waiting to be posted. I'll get back on track, I promise.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tip #5 - Use your environment to your advantage
There are a lot of things around us ( both man-made and natural ) that kids don't understand. A good parent will know how to exploit that lack of understanding and use it for the better good of the home.
Example:
We have deer that regularly walk around the neighborhood. They even come into the yard and eat our bushes. Well one day the kids were misbehaving and the deer where in the yard. Seeing an opportunity to exploit our kids lack of knowledge about Santa Claus, we told them that the deer were Santa's deer. We said that they were here checking on the kid and they were going to go back and tell Santa that Hyrum and Ella were not being good kids. Well, it worked like a charm. Whatever they were doing wrong stop immediately. This exploit still works today. Any time the kids see the deer in the yard (which is all year long) the kids act like angels. We have even been able to extend it to times when we haven't seen the deer. We just mention that we saw the deer in the yard this morning and it still works.
Example:
We have deer that regularly walk around the neighborhood. They even come into the yard and eat our bushes. Well one day the kids were misbehaving and the deer where in the yard. Seeing an opportunity to exploit our kids lack of knowledge about Santa Claus, we told them that the deer were Santa's deer. We said that they were here checking on the kid and they were going to go back and tell Santa that Hyrum and Ella were not being good kids. Well, it worked like a charm. Whatever they were doing wrong stop immediately. This exploit still works today. Any time the kids see the deer in the yard (which is all year long) the kids act like angels. We have even been able to extend it to times when we haven't seen the deer. We just mention that we saw the deer in the yard this morning and it still works.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Tip #4 - Never ask your kids if your cool
Never ask your kids if your cool unless you're prepared for the truth.
Example:
Hyrum was telling us how cool his aunt's boyfriend was because of something he has. As a result of my lapse of judgment, I asked Hyrum "Daddy doesn't have that, so am I cool?" To which Hyrum promptly replied "No." He was correct in his assessment of my coolness and I know I'm not cool but no one wants it confirmed by a 5 year old.
As a general rule of thumb, never ask a question you don't want to know the answer to.
Example:
Hyrum was telling us how cool his aunt's boyfriend was because of something he has. As a result of my lapse of judgment, I asked Hyrum "Daddy doesn't have that, so am I cool?" To which Hyrum promptly replied "No." He was correct in his assessment of my coolness and I know I'm not cool but no one wants it confirmed by a 5 year old.
As a general rule of thumb, never ask a question you don't want to know the answer to.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tip #3 - If you have your kids run in circles long enough they will run out of energy
Have you every had one of those nights where the kids are so full of energy they won't go to sleep? The simple solution is to have them run in circles. Eventually they will run out of energy.
Example:
Example:
Remember to use circles. Running in circles will make them too dizzy to fight you when you put them in bed.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tip #2 - Grandparents have a greater influence on your kids than you do
It is sad but true, children listen to their grandparents more than they listen to their parents.
Example:
Another Hyrum story for you. Hyrum loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That is his request for every meal. He usually eats 5 or 6 pb&j sandwiches a week. The problem with this was that he would refuse to eat the crust. So he would always ask us to cut the crust off. Well, since he never eats anything we decided it was better to go through the trouble of cutting off the crust than not have him eat the sandwich. So for years we have cut off the crust. Periodically we tried to convince him to eat the crust but to no avail. So a few months back, Grandma and Grandpa were visiting and Grandpa was making Hyrum a pb&j sandwich. Hyrum naturally asked Grandpa to cut off the crust to which Grandpa promptly explained that the crust is what gives us big muscles. Hyrum naturally believed his Grandpa and since that day Hyrum has always eaten the crust on his sandwiches.
So the moral of the story is that if there is something you want your kids to do or believe, have Grandma or Grandpa tell them, I guarantee you will have greater success.
Example:
Another Hyrum story for you. Hyrum loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That is his request for every meal. He usually eats 5 or 6 pb&j sandwiches a week. The problem with this was that he would refuse to eat the crust. So he would always ask us to cut the crust off. Well, since he never eats anything we decided it was better to go through the trouble of cutting off the crust than not have him eat the sandwich. So for years we have cut off the crust. Periodically we tried to convince him to eat the crust but to no avail. So a few months back, Grandma and Grandpa were visiting and Grandpa was making Hyrum a pb&j sandwich. Hyrum naturally asked Grandpa to cut off the crust to which Grandpa promptly explained that the crust is what gives us big muscles. Hyrum naturally believed his Grandpa and since that day Hyrum has always eaten the crust on his sandwiches.
So the moral of the story is that if there is something you want your kids to do or believe, have Grandma or Grandpa tell them, I guarantee you will have greater success.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)