Kids are pretty self centered. After all, they have been taken care of most all of their young life and making that transition to independence is very hard for some. My children fit that description perfectly. As hard as one may try it’s very difficult for anyone to give up being waited on hand and foot and being made to do things on their own. A great lesson for me was one night when my sons were watching TV long past their bedtime. I came into the room and said that the TV needs to be turned off. They immediately started arguing with me and pleading that what they were watching was almost ov ..read more

A concern I have about my children is that they are becoming a bit negative in their attitudes. I don’t know if it’s what they are watching on TV or their electronic devices or maybe even the influence of their peers but I have noticed their is an attitude of negativity in some of their interactions. I recently overheard my sons talking about one of their friends that was not being very nice when they were playing in a group with several other children. My one son said “He’s an idiot!” At this point I stepped in and said “You shouldn’t say that, you have to be more positive.” He thought for a ..read more

Not that many years ago there was an ad campaign for a major potato chip company which bet that you couldn’t eat just one of their irresistible potato chips. Fast forward to present day where they have the “One Chip Challenge”. No, it’s not the same thing. They’re not challenging you to eat just one chip without having the overwhelming craving to eat more. It’s the bet that you can’t finish just one of their spicy hot potato chips without eating or drinking something to douse the 3 alarm fire in your mouth. You see these chips are infused with Carolina Reaper and Ghost Pepper seasoning, two of ..read more

Most kids hop around from interest in everything from Legos to sports which can make last weeks dedication this weeks old news. My kids are certainly no exception.  Not long ago my oldest son made his latest passion basketball. That’s not so bad except he was still on his soccer team and they had not finished the season. The conflict arose when he had his first basketball games scheduled at the same time as state championship soccer tournament. He said he didn’t want to play in the soccer tournament and wanted to play with his basketball team. That wouldn’t be so bad if he were the kind o ..read more

Our family is constantly on the go. Sports, travel, sleepovers and anything else that we can do except sit still.  I’ve noticed that many times I see parents that drop off their kids and leave or If they stick around they are constantly on their phone or distracted in some way or another.  I started thinking about this observation and realized everyone, including me, could do better.  It reminds me of the times I’ll sit down at my desk to get a little work done and charge up my phone.  One day I forgot to plug in my phone so when I got up to leave my phone was dead.  I ..read more

Recently after seeing a young girl riding with her dad on a motorcycle I was reminded of my oldest daughters first motorcycle ride with me. A friend of mine had just purchased a very nice tricked out Honda Gold Wing motorcycle. I am a licensed motorcycle operator and he asked me if I’d like to take it for a ride.  My daughter, who was very young at the time, was a little apprehensive but reluctantly agreed to go with me. We outfitted her with a helmet that made her look like a watermelon on a stick. My buddy put her on the motorcycle behind me and I immediately felt a vice grip around me ..read more

I didn’t think my boys would ever learn manners. Then one day they went to visit a friend that they knew from school. I didn’t know the parents very well and I was a bit apprehensive about turning my two heathens loose on an unsuspecting mom. You see, I have gone so far as to ignore their request for a snack or treat until they say please and thank you. This has met with limited success so you can imagine my surprise when I picked up the boys and the mom said: “Your boys are so well mannered.”. —- I already had my apology for the way they acted ready so I was speechless when she said that. Don ..read more

“The Circle” by James Bailey Impatiently young, we strain to grow old. For wisdom with age will come, so we’re told. Then awkwardly swinging we carve out our place. And stake off our spot in this human race. One sighted we run till the hurdles we’ve cleared. Then looking around we find what we’ve feared. With all that we’ve carved, and molded, and styled. We find we were better off…… as a child ..read more

I don’t know about the rest of you parents but it seems that I’m always battling my kids to get them to do the simple every day things that they absolutely have to do. Like, take a shower, brush your teeth, go to bed at a decent hour, eat this, don’t eat that. So, I tried to think it through. After some deliberation I came to realize that two things are happening. One is that they are trying to control the situation, be independent and make their own life decisions.  The other is that we, as good parents, are trying to prepare them to do the things they will have to do when they get out o ..read more