Foundation Father
Let’s paint a scenario. Let’s say you have told your child to stop screaming in a high-pitched voice. He does it again. You say stop again. He does it again. You say stop again. He does it again. Your blood starts boiling and you say stop again. He screams again and your pot boils over […]
“How will they learn to socialize with other kids?” This is a common objection to homeschooling. Even though it comes in the form of a question, it’s really an implicit objection. Let’s walk through the type of “socialization” kids get at government schools. This type of “socialization” is overrated. It looks nothing like real life. […]
I’ve written elsewhere that you can say “because I said so” with a clear conscience. You are a father. As long as you haven’t squandered or abused your authority, you can write some pretty big checks. But that doesn’t mean that should be your normal mode of operation. If your children ask “why” they need […]
Fathers can stubborn. If they have a plan for what they think works, they can stick with it despite evidence to the contrary. This can happen most often with multiple children. We assume what worked with one kid will work with another and try to fit a younger child into the same mold. But parenting […]
Some kids get overwhelmed with options. They waffle back and forth and always answer with “I don’t know” and get upset as the pressure rises. They just cannot make a decision even if their life depended on it. One of ours has this issue when deciding what to order off the kid’s menu, what to […]
I finally let my sons play the Spider-man game. My 7-year-old started on the easiest difficulty setting and I still had to help him through some of the challenges. But three weeks later, everything had changed. I walked up behind him while he was playing and he said, “Daddy, look what I set it on.” […]
On a recent plane trip, I witnessed the actions of an emasculated father. He was traveling with his wife and two boys. As soon as the door was shut, one of the boys demanded his tablet and headphones. But they were in the checked bag. The father was conciliatory, saying they would get it at […]
It’s normal for a man to be ambivalent toward kids, to not seek out their company or avoid them. In fact, we look with suspicion at childless men who like to spend time around children. And rightly so. If you don’t like kids, there’s nothing wrong with you. Until I had my own kids, I […]
Daniel Boone recognized the screams of his daughter. Jemima Boone, thirteen years old, and two other girls were kidnapped by a small group of Shawnee and Cherokee. Daniel Boone started tracking the group barefoot, not taking the time to fetch his mocassins. The pursuit through the Kentucky wilderness lasted two days before Boone’s party finally […]
There should be a reward for whining, and it should be consistently distributed every time one of your kids begins with the martyr routine. What is that reward? More of what they are whining about. Are they whining about a chore they have to do? They get another chore they have to do immediately after. […]