Comments on: 4 Parents Share Their Top 3 Pieces of Parenting Advice

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:35:31 +0000

I love your blog and thank you for your advice.

By: Family Matters

Family Matters — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 03:01:06 +0000

WOW, great tips!

Although I agree with Dustin that kids don’t come first, I believe YOU (your happiness) come first and only then your marriage and your kids. If that’s what you meant by “your faith” than we are also in agreement on this.

I find that many parents serve their kids and switch to being parents, forgetting to be people, human beings, most of the time. When I suggest to them that happy parents raise happy kids, they are surprised, but then they take it on board and make it work.

Ronit

By: Solo-Dad

Solo-Dad — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:38:20 +0000

That last bit on “Just be’ hit me between right in the third-eye. ;-)

By: A Question of Legacy

A Question of Legacy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:04:35 +0000

[...] I want to be remembered as a good father or mother. [...]

By: The Book of Wisdom – 101 Posts for the All-Around Balanced Life | Balance In Me

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:54:09 +0000

[...] 4 parents share their top 3 pieces of advice [...]

By: Alana

Alana — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:47:04 +0000

I would add the following:
1. a child’s most important mode of learning until age 7 is play. They will eventually learn to read, write and do ‘rithmetic. Let them be kids.
2. help build on a child’s natural curiosity – follow their lead and learn together (even if you think you already have all the answers). Allowing children to explore and trust their creativity will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives.
3. There’s a difference between “power over” (“do it because I said so” and the genuine power of being a loving, respectful parent. If you do something that feels “bad” in your gut, it probably wasn’t good for your child or your relationship with them. Think creatively, remember that humor diffuses almost all power struggles.
(oh – and one more) 4. We must give respect in order to receive it. Children deserve our respect as the uniquely individual beings they are.
My two cents. :)

By: Sherri Kruger

Sherri Kruger — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:22:11 +0000

Hi Josh,
I appreciate your comment and I don’t think you were being a jerk. The point of me posing these types of questions to a number of parents is to expose all of you to different points of view, not just mine. I agree that these parents are all fairly new but I would argue that the advice they shared came from the experience they have gathered so far. To be clear, when I asked these parents for their expert advice most of them said they were certainly not “experts” so that was definitely my term not theirs.

I really do appreciate your comment and your honesty. For the next round of ask the parents I’ll seek out parents who have been in the trenches for a lot longer I would be very interested in seeing what they have to say.

I love your piece of advice by the way. It is one of the more difficult things to do and do consistently.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:24:45 +0000

I -really- don’t want to sound like a jerk or negative or anything, but I have to ask:
Of all the authors “parenting experts”, as you call them, none of them have kids that are old at all. One expert hasn’t been a parent for a whole year and is offering advice? Now I can see Leo, who has a whole cast of children, as having some serious advice worth gathering, but it almost seems like some of the advice given isn’t from experience but from feelings.

Again, I’m not trying to be a jerk, as the advice seems solid. I just question the experience (I have 3: a 7 year old boy, an almost 5 year old girl, and an almost 1 year old girl).

Best advice I can see is putting yourself in your kids shoes, especially when they do something bad. I’ve never seen any of my children do anything maliciously…. nothing intentionally bad just to be bad. They aren’t old enough to understand that. But at the same time, you want to instill the discipline that they understand right from wrong and make the appropriate choices in the future. I think Leo mentioned that either here or on his blog before. It’s the easiest, yet hardest piece of advice that I try to follow daily…

By: Zengirl

Zengirl — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:37:20 +0000

I like all those tips, we as a parent sometimes get so many conflicting advices that we forget to listen our own “gut” feelings. I have 2 kids.

My 3 points;
1. Get enough sleep, rest, eat healthy.
2. Remember “This shall too pass” Mantra.
3. They grow up so fast, savor the moments

By: Loretta

Loretta — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:21:00 +0000

Thank you for an inspiring read. A great reminder to “just be” with our children. (And “just be” with ourselves). I also love Annabel’s comment about “be the parent”. That is an empowering concept in this culture of over concern in parenting.

A friend gave me another concept I find helpful which is the “good enough” parent. Sometimes it is fine to be just good enough. It helps to remind me that I am doing the best I can, they will be ok, all will be well…