When It Comes To Parenting Does Practice Make Perfect?

 Posted by Bill on September 19, 2011  General, How to Communicate with Your Kids, Raising Children as a Single Parent, Teenagers, The Craziness of Single Parenting  No Responses »
Sep 192011
 
They say that practice makes perfect. I have decided that whoever said that was obviously not a parent. I have practiced at being a good parent ever since day one, and I continue to practice at it each and every day. Last week I thought that I had finally figured it out, and then my 15 year old teenage daughter reminded me that I have a long way to go. Funny how teenagers seem to think that they know everything. I am starting to think that parenting is allot like the game of golf. No matter how much you practice, you will never get it totally right. Oh you may score well every once in awhile, but just when you start to think that  you’ve got  it figured out, you slice one it into the woods and end up taking a penalty stroke. Over the years I have had my share of penalty strokes with my kids.
The problem with being a good parent, is that your kids are constantly changing on you. Once you get to the toddler stage figured out here comes the young child stage, then the pre-teen stage and finally the dreaded teenager stage. Looking back on the early stages, I now realize that the degree of difficulty changes with each and every  stage my kids go through. It must be Gods way of reminding you that practice doesn’t always make you perfect, but it will make you better. 
I am blessed to have my parents as great examples. Since they raised  five kids, they had allot of practice. Looking back on it now I realized that they weren’t perfect, but at least they kept practicing. Actually with five kids, maybe they should have stopped practicing having children after the first two:) I am the oldest by the way! One thing that I do know is that if you as a parent keep practicing, your children will be the beneficiary of it. I pray every night for those children who don’t have parents who practice. Who have parents that give up. They are the children that will never understand how to become a good parent themselves. They are the ones whose children will turn to the dark side, when if their parents had just practiced more, they would have all seen the light. Continue reading »
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Do You Feel Guilty?

 Posted by Davis on September 15, 2011  General  No Responses »
Sep 152011
 

I never know what I am going to blog about until I KNOW what I am going to blog about. I don’t pick the topic, it picks me. I have had sign after sign was telling me that I needed to write about - the one thing that plagues all of us parents…GUILT!  Today I realize that you can please some of them all of the time but you please them all all of the time. I wanted to give myself and YOU the ultimate gift if just for today…FREEDOM FROM GUILTY PARENTING.

It is natural to want to do the best for our children. We want to give them everything we didn’t have and we want to be better parents than our parents were. That’s fair enough. But then the fantasy sets in. We want the Brady Bunch. We want Full House. We want our children to only have wonderful admiring thoughts of us. We want everyday to end with problems solved and life’s lessons being tenderly achieved with a hug and “Thanks Mom and Dad. You are the best.” That is completely unrealistic and will never happen!

This fantasy only perpetuates the guilt and there is absolutely nothing good about guilty parenting. It hands over too much control to the children and it keeps us in a never ending loop of being taken for granted, getting angry with them and ourselves, and more guilty parenting. The only way it will stop is when we knock it off and feel confident about the parent we are whether we are single parenting or dual parenting and stop comparing ourselves to other parents. Continue reading »

Negatively Impacting Your Children by Jennifer Maggio

 Posted by Jennifer on September 14, 2011  General  1 Response »
Sep 142011
 

Oh, the sweet innocence of a newborn!  There is nothing quite so special as holding a cuddly, soft newborn as they gaze up at you with wonder and amazement - their eyes so wide, their futures so bright.  When is it, along the way, that we forget that innocence of the children that God has entrusted us with? 

 ”Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” Proverbs 22:6

I have clung to that Scripture many, many times when I was certain that I was a total failure as a mother.  I have prayed that very verse repeatedly when my teenagers were furious with my parenting decisions.  And in my years of parenting and counseling those who are also on the journey, there are many things I have learned through trial and error (and am still learning).  But this simple fact I know is true.  Continue reading »

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The Definition of Insanity

 Posted by Michele on September 12, 2011  General  1 Response »
Sep 122011
 

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein …

It seems that human beings are sometimes programmed to fall prey to patterns regardless of if they are healthy or destructive and unfortunately it is sometimes the destructive patterns that show up the most.  The question is then raised as to why? Why do people continue to do things repeatedly that can hurt themselves, hurt others or potentially ruin lives?

This is a complex question and there are no simple answers but it would seem that at times it is because it is what we have always known and what we have always done. There is some type of comfort that rests within the walls of habits and patterns even if they are bad ones and in the end we sometimes continue to repeat them because in our minds they somehow serve us or we believe we are getting something out of it. Perhaps it is a learned behavior or perhaps it rests on vulnerabilities due to difficult things that have happened in our lives. Continue reading »

If We Could All Have This Attitude…

 Posted by Bill on September 12, 2011  General  3 Responses »
Sep 122011
 

I wanted to share with you an email that I received this morning from a young man stationed in the Canadian military. I was not only moved by his email, but by the attitude this person has. It has given me the inspiration to never forget what amazing single parents there are in this world. Thank you Pte. Johnston for your commitment, sacrifice and proof that no matter how difficult life canat times appear, it is still a blessing that should be cherished forever.

Remember Them Well.

 Posted by Michael on September 9, 2011  General  No Responses »
Sep 092011
 

With the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 only a couple days away, I have been reflecting (as I’m sure many of you have) on how the events on that tragic day have changed our lives.

I have seen countless news and web articles on the negative impact September 11th had, including the increased security in airports, the impact to our civil liberties, our view of government and the political climate, religious and cultural intolerance, and concern for our future in general. While each of these topics has some degree of legitimacy, they are also depressing thoughts.

Nearly 3,000 innocent people lost their lives that day, and that does not include the thousands who have since died while fighting for our country. These individuals died needlessly, but their deaths do not have to be in vain. Instead of remembering those who lost their lives by focusing on the negative impact our world has experienced since 9/11, I choose to pay tribute to them by focusing on the many positive changes my family has experienced as a result of their sacrifice. Continue reading »

Confidence ~ Courage ~ Kindness. It’s All We Need!

 Posted by Davis on September 8, 2011  General  2 Responses »
Sep 082011
 

I have a tattoo.

I got it about six years ago when my brother and I went to see my nephew off for his first stint in Iraq. He wanted us to get tattoos together. How do you say no to a kid’s request before he is going off to war?

No is not an option at that point.

Since I really didn’t want to get a tattoo, I knew I was going to have to make a good decision. I pondered and took suggestions. My brother suggested I get something representing my girls. I knew I didn’t want their names…I know their names. So I thought and pondered a little more about not only the tattoo itself but the placement which is very important. As I sat and watched Trevor get his dog tag tattooed on his calf, it came to me.
I would get a flower vine on my lower back with the 3 words that represent the only things we really need in this life. The words I tell my girls that if they have these 3 things…they will need nothing else because with these three words life will unfold and belong to them. Continue reading »

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