Thursday Thirteen Ed. #55
by Steve, August 23rd, 2006
This one’s for all the mommy bloggers. Especially this one, who makes me feel like uber-dad. She’s used to tell me I should do a daddy blog, but somehow I got side-tracked into this wacky anti-war, pro-hockey etc. blog. Anyway here ya go, Wacky Mommy: Thirteen Ways to be a Better Dad (from the perspective of a working Dad of a 4 y.o. and a 7 y.o.).
- Love the mother of your children. She needs it and deserves it.
- Say goodbye to your children before you leave for work, even if they’re still asleep.
- Take them to a river and let them throw rocks into it.
- Teach your kids safe, creative ways to channel aggressive energy. Build a block village with them, let them play with it for a while, then tell them to destroy it.
- Be firm and consistent, not angry and impatient.
- Spend as much time with them as you possibly can, but…
- Take some time for yourself once in a while.
- Don’t sweat the difficult stages. Most don’t last more than 6 months.
- Tell your children about your childhood fears. Tell them if you wet the bed, or were afraid of the dark, or feared tornadoes or nuclear war.
- Sing them a funny naughty song or playground rhyme from when you were their age. (“There’s a place in France….”) Don’t overdo it. See #1.
- Teach them that with good manners, they can charm the pants off grown-ups and get exactly what they want.
- Turn off the TV.
- Put them to bed every night. Read them two or three stories.
