Attended the effective discipline stategies for children/teens seminar

Today I attended the effective discipline stategies for children/teens seminar. When my wife suggested this seminar to me I thought it would be a waste of time and money ($200). I am glad I took it, a lot of things are much clearer to me now. For example the difference between a punishment and a consequence

Consequenses:
Fit The Behaviour
Are for bad choices, NOT bad kids
Are about now, not the past
Are firm, friendly and kind
Permit choice

Punishment
Invites rebellion
Teaches resentment
Attack on self-esteem
Relationship is based on fear
Dehumanizing
Teaches children to bully others

Kids bully other kids because the same happens to them at home. If your kid needs therapy then go with him, by making him go by himself you will make him feel that something is wrong with him. The person doing the seminar also said that kids are way over-medicated nowadays.

If you want to know more about this seminar visit ParentAssist

Raising Boys (Good luck)

Raising Boys
a) For those who have children past this age, this is hilarious.
b) For those who have children this age, this is not funny.
c) For those who have children nearing this age, this is a warning.
d) For those who have not yet had children, this is birth control.

The following came from an anonymous Mother in Austin, Texas. Things I've learned from my Boys (honest and not kidding):
1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. Ft.house 4 inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20×20 ft. Room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.

8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9.) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.

10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy.

11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15.) VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.

21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

25.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

Daddy Doesn’t Have A Real Job

My wife asked my 3 year old son what he wants to be when he grows up. He said that he wants to be a teacher or a fireman. Then my wife asked him if he wanted to work with computers like his daddy. His response?
That is not a real job
So my son thinks I am on the Webkinz site whole day. Oh well :-(

Spending Some Good Time With My Oldest Son

Today I took my son on the train to New York City. I brought a book with me but managed to read only 6 pages. My son who is going to be four in two weeks had question after question after question. Here are some of them.

How much longer?
Why did the man take our ticket?
How can we go under the water?
What is that red thing on the window?
How does the train move?

After a while you wish you could ignore it, but you can’t. My parents told me that I was exactly the same when I was his age. Whenever I take my oldest son with me he thinks it is a little special because he usually shares our attention with his 18 month old twin brother and sister. I bought him a muffin and a juice at Penn Station and he really appreciated that. We took the subway to the Upper East Side and the escalator didn’t work so of course I had to answer another 20 questions or so.
On the way back home he told me that he can’t wait to do it again next year. We also went together last year and he was already nagging me about it.