Thanks for your post bitmaster20,
I am still fairly a young father raising twin boys who just turned 6. I am nowhere near a expert when it comes to parenting and just learning like many of you here. There are many times when my wife and I wonder if we are doing the right things as parents. We do know that the most important asset we can give to our boys is unconditional love and affirmation.
I think it would be great if some of the older parents would share what has worked well for them in raising their children. One of the things that my wife did when our twins were between the ages of 4-5 is a marble reward system. She bought two jars with each of our boys' names on it and each time they did something good, she would reward them by adding a marble in the jar. If they did something bad, she would take away a marble from the jar.
Once they accumulated a certain amount of marbles, my wife would exchange "X" amount of marbles for a dollar bill and take them to the local dollar store and allow each of them to purchase two items. Our boys would feel proud that they earned what they had bought. She would also let them pay the cashier with the dollar bills that they have earned.
bitmaster20 said:
Panda said:
The key to successful parenting is not found in complex theories, elaborate family rules, or convoluted formulas for behavior. It is based on your deepest feelings of love and affection for your child, and is demonstrated simply through empathy and understanding. Good parenting begins at the heart, and the continues on a moment-moment basis by engaging your children when feelings run high, when they are sad, angry, or scared.
That's one part of good parenting, being a loving and caring parent who's willing to sacrifice their own comfort.
The parent is also responsible for making wise choices for their kids. Living in a city like Irvine will afford you many choices. The marketing machine is in full swing in places where people have money to spend. As a parent you need to be well grounded in what your vision (besides education) is for your kids , and then you have some sense of reference when you faced with decisions about how to spend your and the kids time.