Ten Things Your Kids Need Most From You. What do kids (tweens especially) think they need from us parents? I just had a little chat with Eli (12) and Fynn (10) and asked them that very question. I will share with you the gist of what they said. I’d always thought that I needed a…
I can’t believe I am writing an article on listening! By nature I suck at it. So says my wife, and she should know. But in the last few years I have grasped what a liability that is – not just as a husband, but especially now that I am a dad! So I have…
Skin-deep: How to Love Your Kids Through Their Skin Like it or not, we take in most of the love we receive through our skin. This is most obvious in newborns. The mortality rate in NICUs is highest in the case of kids who are not held and touched. This basic need to be touched…
There are 5 ways to help children feel your love, but one or two will work best on your child. Before the drought, there was a corner of my garden that was dying, despite the presence of my irrigation system. The solution was as simple as changing the angle of a nearby irrigation outlet in…
One of the most difficult things for us parents to do is helping our kids to get up again when life and others knock them down. Yesterday I did my best to do just that for one of my boys. It was his first day back at school. Late yesterday afternoon he asked to do…
I have stumbled across something brighter than a screen. Two nights ago, after the second family movie night in just three days (it’s school holidays) ended in exhaustion-related meltdowns in my youngest kids, Eli (10) and Fynn (8) my oldest kids made some recommendations: Eli: ‘Dad, we like movies and all. But I think we…
The Dad Who Nearly Lost His Child And How It Changed His Parenting Two weeks ago a freshly focused father had come to hear me speak to a bunch of fathers about being a better dad to our kids. He was on the edge of his seat, taking notes. In a very interactive way, I covered…
7 Clever Ways To Give More Time To Your Kid(s) I want to give my kids the very best life I can give them. Which is why I give them my time. Time is our most precious commodity. Nothing says, ‘I love you’ to your kids like spending time with them. Relax, this post is…
The other day a perfect stranger helped me understand the astonishing scientific connection between love, parenting, brain development, education and poverty. And what it means for parenting my kids to greatness, and helping the most vulnerable in our country. I was MCing an event where critical development-based research was being released when an elderly man…
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…
