Tag Archives: Parenting

Mar23

Optimized Parenting

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Optimized Parenting

With two children at home, I’m highly interested in increasing my knowledge of parenting topics.  Specifically, I like to learn more about how to be a great parent and really enjoy my time with my children and family.  I’ve been reading books and blogs on the subject for 5 years now (when the first child was in the belly) and I’d like to begin sharing some of my key learnings and advice on this page.

Recently, we’ve greatly reduced the amount of TV we watch at our house.  We normally let our preschooler watch 1 hour of TV a day and a little more on the weekends – this is actually quite low for American children.  One week, I decided just to keep the TV cabinet closed.  He whined for one morning and one afternoon and that was it.  I just said NO, and he moved on.  There was no discussion involved.  He found something else to do.  We went from watching 2-3 hours a day (as a family) to 2-3 hours a week!

Removing TV from our lives (for the most part), has made our life more simple.  There are less choices in the day and I don’t have to “build in” TV time in my preschooler’s morning routine.  Instead, we sit together at breakfast and I get to hear some of the great thoughts he has in his head.  We have increased those small, special moments during the day that are worth more than gold.  TV had previously filled up our time and not allowed for many of these moments in our life.

Interested in more on this subject?  Check out Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne.

Oct30

To Be Creative, or Not

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To Be Creative, or Not

I simply think there are two ways to solve problems – be creative or not.  I’ve listed two examples below of grocery stores dealing with the same problem: keeping children entertained and well-behaved during their store experience.

Exhibit A: Harris Teeter offers a red race car that hooks to a grocery cart. (As well as a free cookie and balloon.)Grocery Race Cart

Pros:  My boy loves the car.  For a stretch, I would say that it builds his imagination as he’s “driving” it around.

Cons:   I HATE it.  It’s too big, you make a scene when your going through the store, you can barely turn the darn thing and he just yells “go faster, go faster!”  I’ve only seen two at our store – so we either get it or not; not everyone can play.

Exhibit B: Trader Joe’s offers an in-store scavenger hunt.  Grab the half-sheet of paper with the instructions at the front of the store and if you find all of the items, you get a PRIZE!

Trader Joe's

Pros: Involves thinking, finding, circling, etc.  Everyone can play.  Involves parent & child.

Cons:  I haven’t tried this with my child yet, but I would assume that he would want to run all over to find it quickly. I’ll update this post when I try it with him.

The winning solution: Trader Joe’s!  Thank you for being creative!  I dropped in for my first visit only to get my mom some tea.  But I WILL be back!  I can only imagine the great in-store experiences that await!