Foundation Father
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
There comes a time in every child’s life when they will declare war on their parents’ way of doing things. You might think I’m talking about the teenage years. No. I’m talking about a time between 18 and 36 months. Maybe earlier, depending on the child. Children begin to assert themselves early, and they will […]
Boys are different than girls. They are not defective because they are different. The differences between the sexes are glorious and proper. Public schools, in particular, can promote the opposite of this truth. They reward rule-followers and seekers of safety. Any boy who steps out of line, even a little bit (like rebelling against sitting […]
When I shared everything my son had to do to pass his rite of passage, he seemed intimidated. That’s because it’s designed to be hard. Not impossible, but hard. He didn’t want to do any of it. But then I showed him we’ve already been working toward some of these things for years. In some […]
Words are powerful. They can be used for good or for ill. Blessing or cursing. Their absence can also be felt, and fathers, in the hustle and bustle of life, sometimes forget to give our sons the vital nourishment they need. Here are things your son should hear from you often. “I love you.” You […]
The never-ending work of a father is to teach his children that their actions have consequences. They might not be immediate consequences, but they will happen. This is why we spank at very early ages: to add immediate consequences to certain actions. As they get older, we hope they have internalized this to some extent, […]
Do not listen to those who quote sixty-year-old sociological studies and ignore 2,000-year-old wisdom. The former studies have an agenda and they replicate about as well as a coin toss. Their job is not to inform nor to make you a better parent. Their job is to give you a sense of superiority while you […]