Sunday, November 14, 2010

Daily Read #5 - Parenting Tips

So it's a Monday and who has time for much reading on a Monday. This post will be more pictorial than any of the previous. So I hope you enjoy nonetheless. Really pressed for time, everyone has time for a few short clicks right.

Vote:http://contest.hoopesvision.com/vote.html

We thank you and your pointer finger [unless you're clicking with one of your other phalanges. If so that's kind of weird but who are we to judge].

As you can probably imagine Rachel and Ryan are great parents. I've been fortunate to have them as some of my personal models of successful parenting. Before the birth of my first, Rachel sent me some very insightful parenting advice. It was a good laugh then and it is still today. Both times I've needed that good laugh.














I like to think that in all seriousness these pictures reflect part of what makes Rachel and Ryan's parenting style effective. No I don't think they needed (or really thought I needed) these tips.

But I do think that they believe that while their children mean the world to them it's important to keep some perspective of the resiliency of children. In addition to this I think they also subscribe to the following parenting truisms.

• Love each other. A healthy marriage enables good parents to parent well. It's definitely the horse before the cart.

• Laugh at yourself (and your kids). Life is funny even when it's not. Learn to laugh and make others laugh and if nothing else you'll feel better.

• Forgive yourself and learn from your mistakes. There are times when you do error as a parent. Everyone does but as long as you're channeling common sense and acting out of love and your child's best interest, most errors will be nothing more than a funny story before too long.

• Look to good parents. Ryan and Rachel both have excellent sets of parents and they model their parenting techniques after these role models with some subtle updates, adaptations and advances.

• Children want you before they want anything else. Palmer Family Fun day that occurs once a week highlights the reality to the Palmer kids that while their parents may not be able to buy them everything, they can be their everything.

• Sibling Synergy. Foster good relationships between your children and your job as parents becomes easier. R&R's 1st potty trained their second and third. The greatest gift I recieved from my parents were my siblings. Rachel and Ryan have certainly carried on that tradition.

• Find a Rock. Every parent deserves to parent from a foundation that sures their footing in an increasingly wobbly world. For Rachel and Ryan this foundation includes their religion, their patriotism and their desire to be community builders.

Rachel and Ryan Thank you both for giving me some small confidence that I might just be cutout for fatherhood after all.

Now friends, let's rock the vote!

A good dad needs discriminating vision! Particularly one with only daughters. At some point Ryan will need to let some young wildcat know that he has his eyes on the situation which is more effective if there aren't coke bottles between you and the young man.

Pitch in!

Watch:http://contest.hoopesvision.com/finalists.html
Vote:http://contest.hoopesvision.com/vote.html
Now get your friends/family/coworkers to do the same.

2 comments:

Ryan said...

We really have our parents to thank for bringing us up right. We learn best by experience and example which both of our parents provided for us. The rest of it we are just winging. I guess we'll find out if it works in a few years when the girls are teenagers.

Rachel said...

What Ryan said is true, but I sure could have used a couple of those comics when I had my first. :)