There’s Nothing More Important Than Being a Great Parent
If there is one thing that I take seriously it’s being a parent. There is NOTHING more important to me than my children and their well being.
On November 8th, Beech Acres Parenting Center will host the For the Love of Kids, 2008 Parenting Conference at the Duke Energy Center downtown. The conference will feature 14 parenting experts all offering up their expertise on everything from exploring boundaries to sharing practical parenting insights.
Among the speakers is The Dr. William Sears of Ask Dr. Sears fame, who will be doing the morning key note – Raise a Smarter, happier, and Healthier Child - as well as hosting a workshop on attachment parenting.
Information on the conference came home with my son and it looks like there are a lot of great topics. In particular I thought the Raising the Men They Will Become session looked really interesting.
I recently spoke with the people organizing the conference and asked if they’d be willing to have one of the parenting conference experts answer questions submitted by Mommy Bits Readers… and they agreed!
So if you have a parenting question that you’d like to run by them, you can leave it in the comment section or email me at Shannanb (at) gmail (dot) com. I’ll compile all the questions on Friday, October 31, send them over for review and then post the answers here. You don’t have to live in Cincinnati to submit a question.
I’ll start. Here’s my question:
Recently my six year old son and I were out running errands when we drove past an empty store front. My son remembered that a Sofa Express had been there and asked me what had happened. I explained that it had closed and he got really quiet and concerned. His eyes teared up a little (he is a sensitive guy). He began to ask questions like what had happened to the people who had worked there, was this going to happen to places he cared about like his school, etc. This may sound silly, but my question is how do you address things like this with children, in a way they can understand that also makes sense and makes them feel secure?
If you are in the Cincinnati area, the conference runs from 9am-4:30pm on Saturday, November 8th. Cost is $45 for a full day; $30 for a half. You can register online at http://www.fortheloveofkids.com/.
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This is great Shannan. I’ve heard wonderful things about their program, I would really like to attend.
My question:
My daughter still has a couple years before she’ll enter school. She is two years old and attends preschool/daycare now. With all the different teaching methods and philosophies available (but not easily understood) to parents, how do you know which is best for your child? Does every child benefit from say a Montessori school? Is traditional the best way to go for the majority of families?
Heck, I might as well take advantage and ask another one.
My daughter is wonderful and we are lucky that tantrums and bad behavior are few and far between.
But on those occasions when she does act up, nothing seems to work in the discipline department. She “enjoys” timeout? She’ll put herself in it from time to time for no apparent reason. A stern NO has little to no impact on her.
We do not utilize physical punishments of any sort – other than physically removing from a situation of course.
When the words don’t seem to have an impact, how do you communicate with your child?
Oh wow… all great questions so far! I can’t wait to hear the answers!
I’ll think about the questions, but not sure I’ll come up with on on the fly…
Other than, “Why do my boys (ages 7 and 4) insist on (a) putting their hands down their pants, (b) peeing all over the toilet, not necessarily IN it and (c) talking about burps, farts and other disgusting bodily functions?”
I’ll see if I can come up with something serious though!
I have a question thats been on my mind for quite awhile,When raising children should there be one blanket punishment for an infraction (ie fibbing,hitting etc) or should the punishment be geared to the particular child (ie loss of phone time for the one who loves her phone or loss of gameboy for the gaming fan?
thanks in advance! kathi from mkdieb/brainrust
I’m loving all these questions!! Here’s mine : My 7 yr old daughter had participated in dance class for 3 yrs, but she started to lose interest, or rather had a hard time staying focused and “just wanted to do twirls”. After a big move it was easy to just let her relax and settle in the new environment for awhile. She still does not want to be involved in anything,though. Cheerleading, dance, tennis, soccer, playing an instrument. I am a stay at home mom and I think she is just “too comfortable” being home with the family. We’ve been in our new state now for over a year and I think she should be settled in enough, how do I encourage her desire to have other skills/activities? Should I just wait until she’s older to push a little? Thanks so much!!
My question is similar to Amy’s –
Our son is 1 and we are not sure if our in home daycare is the best place for him. I want to give him the best opportunity for the money, but cringe at spending double or triple what we are spending now. What should we look for in a daycare and at what point should we pay more money? Programs to look for? At what age should we worry that all he get’s is baby einstein for education at his current in home daycare?
I’ve heard a million answers, but how early is too early to start to potty train our son? He’s walking and is 13 months? How do you start him? He is our first child but I would like to start the process before our 2nd gets here in 5 months.
Liz
411mommy.org
Awesome opportunity! I hope I can make it next weekend. I could use a little parenting help.
Here’s my question:
My 2-year-old daughter has blossomed into what’s referred to as a “spirited” child. She is very independent and doesn’t particularly like the structure of things like storytime or classes or shows. She fusses and acts up quite frequently when she can’t do whatever she feels like at that second, while it seems like the other kids her age just hang out and do what they’re “supposed” to. She also likes to be the center of attention.
Do I need to be stricter with her? Looser? Meaner? Nicer? Should I worry that she marches to the beat of her own drum, even when it’s disruptive to others?
Susan from WorkingMomsAgainstGuilt.com´s last blog post… Friday Finds – October 31, 2008