Parental Advice

It happens with every major life change....people giving advice.

In our current situation, we'll take any helpful hints we can get. We're reading books on parenting and seeking advice from our parents, other people's parents, doctors, social workers, etc.

After a few nights of the bedtime battle, I emailed the social worker from our adoption agency for some guidance, thinking that other adoptive parents have had similar difficulties. Her advice was to avoid caffeine and feed them turkey before bed. It was a good thing we asked because for three nights we had been giving the boys bottles of Dr. Pepper before bed. No wonder we've had such problems.

My favorite advice, however, came from the book, "Parenting with Love and Logic" (thanks Nash's for the book - I really do like it...despite the fact that I'm about to make fun of it slightly). They give practical examples for different situations. In one section of the book they talk about the importance of modeling behavior, and in this case, taking care of yourself so your kids will grow up knowing how to take care of themselves. I'm storing this statement in my parenting arsenal and waiting for just the right time to use it.

When your child continually asks for you to do something you say "I'm sorry, but doing things for you is putting a dark cloud on my haze of happiness so I'm choosing not to do it this time."

I just know it's going to be very effective. Feel free to borrow it if you need to. I think it could work in many different situations - with co-workers, spouses, pets. Let me know how it goes.