Lately, I get a rush of ideas that I wanna blog about. I put all my thoughts together, sometimes even scribble them on a napkin, rest is history. Since starting a family it has been difficult to continue blogging, but then there are things I am able to do now than before.
In order to eliminate all distraction, two years ago I said goodbye to Reddit.com and never looked back. Have thought about giving it a try from time to time, but I am my own demon. I did the same thing about two weeks ago. I hated checking FB 4/5 times a day during work and more once at home. So, finally without any thought/goodbye, I deactivated my account. It was a little weird at first, but now I am simply happy that I did. Instead of wasting time on Facebook, I'd rather focus on three things at the moment:
1. Quality time with my family
2. Certs
3. Running & Guitar
With that said, after some discussion we (me & my wife) realized, there's three stages in a child's life that parent need to help out/ be part of. If we break things down such a way it will only make our own life easy.
1. Feeding (& listening to you):
This happens from the beginning till they are in primary school. Among few other things, focus on what you serve gets eaten. Fruits, vegetable and other foods, the plate must be emptied. Absolutely no other activity while eating which must be on the table. Past weekend, we tried Mexican dinner while watching TV. Both of us, paused the TV and finished our food first.
Imagine telling your kid to focus on study, finish their plate, do their homework...and on and on and...you will end up sounding like a nagging parent. So, focus on one at a time. By the time the kid is in school, he/she knows they must finish everything on their plate.
2. Study (& listening to you):
This is a phase that starts from primary and should last only until they are in middle school. Though our daughter will be 3 soon, my thought is just like food, you need to make sure they must finish their school/home work before anything else. I am a big believer of pushing your kid and let them discover, cherish the exhilaration, beauty of doing something beyond what they are capable of. I use the word "Good Job" very few times, instead I say thank you, sometimes nothing at all. If you use a word too many times, it looses value after a while.
So my daughter takes off her shoe, puts it where it suppose to be in her room, thank you or keep silent. Why keep silent? Because that signals her she is suppose to do this anyway.
3. Character & Other things:
By now hopefully your kid knows few ground rules at home, and listens to you. Now it is time to become not only a mom/dad but also a friend. Spend time with her, listen to her, let her know you guys are always there to give her a shoulder.
Again I am not going to write too much about this stage since I am not there yet as a parent. I do however, always think of these topics focusing on my life, my wife, and other people close to us (which is very few, trust me).
I will end this one with something my father used to tell me when I was in high school: "Son, there's three things that's important in life and in this order:
1. Your health: if you are healthy, you will feel great, happy and you can focus on the other two.
2. Your character: this is what people will judge you by. Your character makes you who you are.
3. Your education: is what will empower your character more.
