I have just passed the halfway mark, and I used all twenty of these arrows! For 54 hours I am the sole carer of 5 children, aged 3 to 10. Julie is away with a group of her friends in KZN. Five kids under my watch, I see myself as a parenting-ninja in training. As…
If only us parents had been more clued up before an online sexual predator targeted the teens in our faith community. Worse still, it was one of our youth leaders who assumed numerous fake online identities to entice over 50 teen boys (from inside and outside of our church) into sending semi-nude or nude online…
This week, I spoke to a hall full of dads seated next to their teenage sons. Here’s what I said… “This theme of dad-teen son relationships is really important to me personally because: My dad died when I was 16, and I cherish the memory of those last few years with him. The fact that…
Tonight was one of those family dinners that just doesn’t go according to plan. “Mom! What is wrong with these carrots? Don’t you care about my food!?” “I don’t like chicken anymore.” “Dad! Charlie just poured his juice all over his food!” “You’re sitting on my chair! Off. My. Chair!!!” As I poured juice and peas down…
‘Christmas comes next month, so I want to talk to you guys about Stikeez and seeds.’ With these opening words in my speech, I riveted the 100-strong crowd of four-to-six year olds. Let me back up to how I came to address the entire preschool where two of my children attend. With the Season on its way, the…
I am writing this post because I don’t want to be a fake. For months now I have been studying and reflecting on how to love my kids unconditionally. I have been getting ready to write, hopefully, a kickass blog series that will take us to the noble heights of parenting. But if I post…
Mother’s Day is upon us. And I can think of no better way for us dads to honour moms than to try walk in their shoes, and living to tell the tale. This year my wife was recovering from an operation. For 3 weeks, I tried to fill the mom-void which included reading and skillfully…
So many parents only capture their kid’s pictures, but forget to capture their words. Although listening is not my strong point, there’s one kind of listening that I’ve become good at – listening for the unforgettable things my kids say. About a decade ago, a seasoned parent told me, ‘Promise me this: when you have…
I suck at listening. My wife has told me so 100 times – and that’s only the times I heard her say it. Before we had kids it was about my failure to listen to her. Now she says I often apply the same inept attentiveness to our little ones. I wouldn’t have believed her,…
It’s hard. Much harder than you can imagine. Much, much harder. A few months ago a friend of mine who is a professional therapist said, ‘A family with a kid under the age of 3 is in crisis mode.’ At first I thought that was a bit negative. Upon reflection, I conclude they’re understating it….
