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Jan
10
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 My son gave me a backhanded compliment recently. I was planning our annual family Channukah party at the end of last year, trying to coordinate it with our children’s visitation schedules. Both my children and my stepchildren spend Christmas with their other parent. Since Channukah falls at different times each December, we sometimes have to wait until Winter break, when all of the boys are at home, to have our party. This past holiday was especially hectic – we realized with a shock that on any given night we would be short one child. My oldest son said, “I know you like to do everything perfect and be organized and you always pull it off, but this year I think you have to give that up.” I was so touched. It was a backhanded way of telling me he appreciated my hard work in keeping everything organized. (Compliments and thank you’s are hard to come by from teenagers, so I grab them when I can!)
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Archive for the ‘Family Rules & Limit Setting’ Category
Blog Posts by Emmie
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Sep
13
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Every child is vying for freedom, of some kind, all of the time. Freedom to move, freedom to connect, freedom to disconnect, freedom to explore, and later on, freedom to drive, buy stuff, date and be independent. Your home needs to have a balanced economy, in which freedom is earned with responsibility (of course, we’re talking about children above the age of 4 years).
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Apr
06
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Spring has arrived, along with daylight savings time. Now is the time to get the kids out of the house. This sounds simple, but in today’s world it isn’t. A study done by the University of San Diego showed that children age 9 spend an average of three hours a day outside, but by age 15 that is down to 45 minutes a day — and only 35 minutes a day on weekends. These trends are going the wrong way. Children need to be outside for body and spirit.
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Jan
31
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This time I thought I’d offer a little hope to all the beleaguered parents who read Empowering Parents and wonder if the advice here will ever work for them. Those of you who have read my other blogs know that my 9-year-old grandson, Coby, has never been nominated for “best behaved boy of the week” and I have never been nominated for “most likely to become a drill sergeant.” Rather than a Tiger (Grand)Mom, I am more of a pushover parent. Coby’s great talent to date is testing limits.
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Dec
28
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OK, I’ll admit it — I have certain unrealistic expectations for my son. Don’t get me wrong, some of our expectations are good — we expect him to do his homework, clean his room, and be polite, for example. Others, well, are not as reasonable.
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Dec
21
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As many of us realize, sometimes it seems the main job of a parent is to say no. I remember as a child waiting for a “maybe.” At least a “maybe” meant my parents were thinking it over and there was the possibility of a yes. Well, that is until I learned and often voiced, “But maybe means No!” Since I became a mother, I’ve learned that parenting an ADHD, defiant, or Asperger child means there are even more opportunities to say no.
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Dec
06
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Recently, my 9-year-old received an invitation to attend a pool party for a girl that she considers her (current) “best friend.” My two oldest girls and I arrived at the gathering on a Sunday afternoon. Upon entering, I scanned the backyard for familiar faces yet knew nobody. I met the friend’s mother previously – she seemed warm and hospitable – and after we walked in she graciously invited me to an alcoholic beverage. I was a little surprised—alcohol is not part of our kids’ parties—but I accepted a light beer. I slowly sipped it, all the while observing my two precious princesses interact nicely with the other kids already in the pool.
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Nov
11
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I learned this the hard way when my daughter was diagnosed with Mono. I was humbled when I realized the reason I say YES to most things that make her life so busy, was because IT MADE HER HAPPY! But guess what? IT ALSO MADE HER SICK! It didn’t mean it was good for her for me to say “yes” every time. | |||
