dgr_calumet
New member
Wow...
And I thought I was paranoid!! LOL! Just kidding by the way...
Anyway...I have to chime in on this one cause I am a very protective parent...however, I also can see the benefit of letting your kids succeed and fail on their own...with just a BIT of constant oversight from mom and dad...
I have four children and we keep them working as often as we can...all four kids have after school activities, sports, etc. I think it does start with the parents as many have said...you have to stay tough (we have gone to the extreme of banning certain friends from the house as well as not letting our children go over to their houses because the kids are bad influences !) Tough love! Funny thing here, the kids have actually thanked us for this on two occasions because they have moved on to the friends that are equally respectful and fun to be around. Funny how that works!!
I remember growing up in the 70's and 80's and when I did something wrong, I was corrected!!! And by corrected I mean CORRECTED!! Problem with todays world is you ain't suppose to CORRECT a child anymore...you might hurt their feelings, get sued, etc. Not in our house...our kids have learned to respect their elders, respect other kids, work hard and have fun!!! My wife and I are always being told how well our kids behave, how nice they are, how hard they work in school, how hard they work on sports teams...I COULDN'T BE MORE PROUD OF ALL MY CHILDREN!! They are hard working, fun loving, "out-doorsy" kids!
In fact, two years ago for Christmas they had a choice between snow shoes for each of them or a Wii gaming thingy! THEY CHOSE THE SNOW SHOES!!! I was very proud! We spent that winter playing in the snow and having a blast exploring the Keweenaw!!However, we broke down and bought a Wii for Christmas this year...funny thing though...the Wii has been used about 5 times since Christmas...the snow shoes on the other hand were used regularly for the second year. We have never been a family that over uses video games or the computer...in fact, we have one computer located centrally in the house that the kids MUST ASK to use...and we MONITOR the amount of time that they can go on the computer. Typically, we will allow them to use the computer 2-3 times per week usually for about 30-45 minutes and THAT IS IT! There are better things to do than play video games or facebook for crying out loud! One of my oldest daughters friends was over the other day and asked why my daughter doesn't have internet in her room...I replied, she has her laptop for homework...just no internet connection. As long a my kids are in our house, I will KNOW when and for how long they are on the internet, TV, etc!!!
We allow our children to enjoy all of the technology that other kids use...we just allow it in MODERATION and under supervision!!!
Well, that was alot of rambling to say that I agree with many of the parents on here and to those that don't follow my simple rule, I will lay it out for ya...
BE A PARENT!! It IS just that simple!
Your kids will respect you and thank you in the long run...
Now...crap, it is always hard steppin off this darn soap box with these bad knees!!
Anywho, thank you and I don't care if you agree or not...just statin' my philosophy or whatever you want to call it! Take care...keep parenting and remember...if you give it a try, you (AND your kids) really can enjoy this thing called life!
And I thought I was paranoid!! LOL! Just kidding by the way...
Anyway...I have to chime in on this one cause I am a very protective parent...however, I also can see the benefit of letting your kids succeed and fail on their own...with just a BIT of constant oversight from mom and dad...
I have four children and we keep them working as often as we can...all four kids have after school activities, sports, etc. I think it does start with the parents as many have said...you have to stay tough (we have gone to the extreme of banning certain friends from the house as well as not letting our children go over to their houses because the kids are bad influences !) Tough love! Funny thing here, the kids have actually thanked us for this on two occasions because they have moved on to the friends that are equally respectful and fun to be around. Funny how that works!!
I remember growing up in the 70's and 80's and when I did something wrong, I was corrected!!! And by corrected I mean CORRECTED!! Problem with todays world is you ain't suppose to CORRECT a child anymore...you might hurt their feelings, get sued, etc. Not in our house...our kids have learned to respect their elders, respect other kids, work hard and have fun!!! My wife and I are always being told how well our kids behave, how nice they are, how hard they work in school, how hard they work on sports teams...I COULDN'T BE MORE PROUD OF ALL MY CHILDREN!! They are hard working, fun loving, "out-doorsy" kids!
In fact, two years ago for Christmas they had a choice between snow shoes for each of them or a Wii gaming thingy! THEY CHOSE THE SNOW SHOES!!! I was very proud! We spent that winter playing in the snow and having a blast exploring the Keweenaw!!However, we broke down and bought a Wii for Christmas this year...funny thing though...the Wii has been used about 5 times since Christmas...the snow shoes on the other hand were used regularly for the second year. We have never been a family that over uses video games or the computer...in fact, we have one computer located centrally in the house that the kids MUST ASK to use...and we MONITOR the amount of time that they can go on the computer. Typically, we will allow them to use the computer 2-3 times per week usually for about 30-45 minutes and THAT IS IT! There are better things to do than play video games or facebook for crying out loud! One of my oldest daughters friends was over the other day and asked why my daughter doesn't have internet in her room...I replied, she has her laptop for homework...just no internet connection. As long a my kids are in our house, I will KNOW when and for how long they are on the internet, TV, etc!!!
We allow our children to enjoy all of the technology that other kids use...we just allow it in MODERATION and under supervision!!!
Well, that was alot of rambling to say that I agree with many of the parents on here and to those that don't follow my simple rule, I will lay it out for ya...
BE A PARENT!! It IS just that simple!
Your kids will respect you and thank you in the long run...
Now...crap, it is always hard steppin off this darn soap box with these bad knees!!
Anywho, thank you and I don't care if you agree or not...just statin' my philosophy or whatever you want to call it! Take care...keep parenting and remember...if you give it a try, you (AND your kids) really can enjoy this thing called life!