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Jan
18
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If it came down to it, would you ever call the police on your child? And if so, what would be the last straw — the motivating factor — for you, personally?
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Archive for the ‘Accountability & Responsibility’ Category
Blog Posts by Elisabeth Wilkins, EP Editor
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Jul
26
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 This may seem crazy, but none of our children have set chores to do on a daily/weekly basis. Maybe it’s because from the time I was nine years old, I helped my mother around the house. She was a single mom and worked full time. I kept the house clean and helped out with getting dinner ready after school. Most of the time she made meals in the crock pot, but I helped out with the extras. It was almost cathartic for me when I was cleaning. As an adult I always feel more organized when the area I am in is clean and organized. Having children has made that nearly impossible.
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Jan
03
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Trust:  it’s hard enough to keep, but how do you get it back? About a year ago, one of my daughter’s stole some pills from a neighbor she was babysitting for. We went through a lot for the next six months. Then she got caught sneaking out and doing drugs last spring. Since then, things have been a bit touchy in our house, to say the least.
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Nov
15
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School has been in session for awhile now. My granddaughter Maddy is in sixth grade now and she is expected to take on a lot more homework and a lot more responsibility. It’s a good life experience for her but it’s not easy to convince her of that. Maddy has ADHD and accomplishing anything seems to be such a chore. We are rewarding her when she 1) gets up on time and catches the bus, 2) finishes her homework (or at least gives it her best try before she asks for help), and 3) gets ready for bed in time to settle in before her second wind hits. Obviously, I can’t be with her during school to watch over her, so she also earns points when she remembers to write down her homework in her homework notebook for each class. She is also expected to unload the dishwasher each day and practice her flute and piano on alternating days. | |||
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Jan
07
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A good friend of mine called me the other day to report that her son had told her, “Dad says you should stay out of my business.” This sixth grade boy was saying these words to his Mom in the school office in front of the school secretary. The school called because her son was not completing homework, was talking back to teachers, and getting into the occasional fight.
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Aug
04
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My son has inherited my “sleeping gene” as my husband calls it. I can—and have—slept through everything from crashing thunderstorms to earthquakes. As a kid, I remember my mother doing everything short of setting off fireworks to get me up, from tearing the covers off me in the dead of winter to sprinkling cold water on my face. But at least I wasn’t as bad as my brother, who’s even more legendary in the sleep department than I am. My mom used to carry him to the bathroom in the morning until he was twelve. He was taller than she was even then, so his feet literally touched the floor as she lugged him down the hall. I didn’t want the Sherpa treatment, so nothing else worked for my mom except hauling me out of bed by my feet. “I hope you have a child who’s just like you, so you know what it feels like,” she warned. | |||
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May
27
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This speech, also known as “The Eleven Rules of Life,” has been widely attributed to Bill Gates, but it’s actually part of educator Charles Sykes book, Dumbing Down our Kids. We’re posting it again here during this season of high school and college graduations. RULE 1
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