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Back When I Was A Kid...We must eliminate from our minds a few phrases when we are making decisions about how we will be raising our kids. They are the sayings like: "When I was a kid..." and "If I had done that when I was a kid, my dad would have..." or "Back when we were in school they used to..."Now, this may sound odd to you coming on the heels of our last article where we took the stand that as a nation, we need to "recapture the sound of our kids among us just like we used to up at old Fairview Hall." There is an important distinction here. As parents we must never allow ourselves to fall into the trap of using "because it was done before," or "it has always been that way," or "that was the way my parents did it," as the sole justification for our actions with our kids. It is imperative that we have a sound behavioral, moral, spiritual, ethical, or legal justifications for the actions we are teaching to or demanding of our children. We must be able to explain to our kids in a very logical way, why we are asking them to behave in a particular manner. In essence, we must not only decide: 1) WHAT it is that we want our kids to do but we must also decide, 2) WHY we want them to do it! "Because it was done to me," is never a good enough reason to repeat it with our children. There have been a ton of mistakes made in the past and we are doomed to repeat them if we are not careful to think long and hard about the justification for duplicating those actions with our kids. Following are a couple examples to demonstrate what we are talking about. Two historical events demonstrate the obvious problems with doing what has always been done before. Slavery was common in early America. We certainly would not advocate the continuation of that practice today simply because it was done before. Neither would we teach our children that women should be second-class citizens in the United States even though they were not even legally recognized under the Constitution until the 19th Amendment was adopted in the early 20th century. Simply saying that women should not vote only because they never had in the past was a ludicrous idea. Likewise, it is foolish for us to tell our children that they should wear certain types of clothing simply because that has been an appropriate style in the past. The same goes for hairstyles and many other standards and customs for behavior. Let's look at establishing dress codes for kids. We are not proposing abandoning all standards of dress for young people but rather, we are saying that we ought to make the standards logical and explainable in a reasoned sort of way and not just on the "If I had dressed that way my Dad would have killed me," sort of an explanation. We can have dress codes... but why do we have them is the critical question. Nobody, in their right mind would say that we scrap any sense of awareness of how our kids dress themselves. However, dressing in a certain way because a previous generation did is rather silly to impose upon our kids (unless, of course, we would like to go back and begin dressing like our forefathers who wrote that Constitution did, simply because "that's the way they used to do it in this country.") Hey, let's get a few pictures of ourselves as teens and we can readily see that even we had some rather strange ways of dressing by today's standards. The issue is "why?" Why are we asking our kids to dress in certain ways? Here is a possible discussion: "But Dad, why can't I dye my hair blue (wear spandex shorts to church, wear this provocative Jennifer Lopez top, use four letter words at the mall like the other kids, etc.)?" "Well, my child, you probably could do that and in a perfect world it really wouldn't matter. But, we do not live in a perfect world. We live in a world that has a few flaws: one of them being that most people in this world make a ton of snap judgments based upon some rather narrow preconceived ideas. It is a fact that most of the people you meet will not be able to see beyond the blue hair (or loud dress, etc.) to get to know you. Many of those same people are in a position to control the circumstances of your life or pass judgments about you that have a huge impact upon your life. For the same reason that it would be a bad idea to wear a ball cap to a funeral, it is a bad idea to dye your hair blue... most people would interpret it wrongly. A ball cap at a funeral would be viewed by most as being extremely disrespectful of the person being honored by the funeral. Blue hair would likewise be interpreted by most people as a sign of disrespect for others." "But dad, that's just the point, I'm trying to show my individuality. I don't want to just be like everyone else." "Great son, I am all in favor of you being a one-of-a-kind individual, but anyone can dye their hair. Why not distinguish yourself by being truly excellent at something? Or why not try to undo some terrible wrong done by society? Why not distinguish yourself by making the world a better place? I'd love to help you. What is the cause that you would like to choose? If the only way that you can come up with to make yourself different is dying your hair, I would be disappointed in you because you are such a unique person with so much to offer." Let us, as parents, become their teachers and give them some good solid reasons to choose to adjust their behavior in positive and productive ways simply because it makes sense to them. About the author: Mac Bledsoe, founder and President of Parenting With Dignity®, lectures to parents organizations, youth groups, in schools and churches across America. Mr. Bledsoe and PWD have been featured on the TODAY Show, ABC's 20/20 show, and on numerous national and local radio and television programs. Visit PWD at: http://www.parentingwithdignity.com/ Circulated by Article Emporium Growing Pains Growing Pains By David Leonhardt Growing up is never easy. Just ask Little Lady, almost three-and-a-half, how hard it is. She'll tell you. “It's really, really hard. Half way through the day, my parents are a complete wreck.” She's right. Sometimes the te... The Supermum Myth Exposed The Supermum myth is creating havoc in families and communities around the world. Think about it. There is so much pressure on mothers. They're expected to know what their doing with a brand new baby despite having little or no experience except a few antenatal classes and books... The Shoemaker and the Brat At seventeen years old, I was a brat. A mixture of innocence, immaturity and righteousness. And I carried that attitude with me everywhere, including my trip to the shoemaker. Now, to understand why something as simple as a trip to the shoemaker would stay with me all thes... Learning Styles And The Home Schooler - Part III of III This is part III and the last part of this report. I hope you and your child are benefiting from the cues to their individual learning style and suggestions on how to can adjust your learning environment to achieve a successful and enjoyable homeschooling experience. Nex... Surviving a C-Section After 42 weeks of pregnancy, two days of undergoing inducement and physical stress on the baby, my daughter was delivered via an emergency C-section. Oh, it was music to my ears when my gynecologist arrived in my hospital room at 4:30 a.m. and told me they were going to do an emerg... Parenting: Ten Things You Can Do to Develop Your Baby's Language Skills The growth of your baby's language skills is an amazing process. In the short space of a year, she goes from crying to speaking intelligible words. Can you do anything to help baby along? Apparently yes. There are ways to help the baby develop her language skills more eas... A Step-By-Step Plan to a Healthy Pregnancy Having a baby is an exciting moment. However, the nine months leading up to the experience can be a bit unnerving. Most women worry throughout their pregnancy about the health of their baby. To alleviate the stress and worry that often creep up during pregnancy, plan instead to hav... Back When I Was A Kid... We must eliminate from our minds a few phrases when we are making decisions about how we will be raising our kids. They are the sayings like: "When I was a kid..." and "If I had done that when I was a kid, my dad would have..." or "Back when we were in school they used to..." ... Games to Make your Baby Shower a Success Described below are many baby shower games that will spruce up any baby shower. 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Mommy & Baby: Weight Gain & Failure To Thrive A guide to appropriate weight-gain and what to look for if you suspect failure-to-thrive: Weight Gain: Birth – 2 weeks of age Regain birth weight plus some 2 weeks – 3 months of age Two pounds per month or one ounce per day 4 – 6 ... The Characteristics of a Typical Baby Born Under the Sign of Libra Your Libra Baby.. September 23 - October 22 Libras can be really beautiful babies. Personality wise, your Libra baby will not like to be hurried and will hate having to choose between two things. Libra children often seem older than their years and unexpectedly kn... Learning Styles And The Home Schooler - Part II of III Create the best learning environment for your child. In addition to receiving and processing information, learning is affected by how the child responds to the organization of the material. Consider these four basic types. (Remember it is not a box to keep your child in..... When To Start Teaching Your Baby (1) When is it that I should start teaching my baby? That is a question that may come to mind for many first time parents; other parents may never consider the question at all, and just leave things to evolve naturally. In a way, that is an unnecessary question as, whether you...
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