In honour of all grandparents, especially those who – like granny Esther – become better not bitter from life’s hardships.

Grandparents, grandkids and bridges between the two, let me inspire you with a story that is at once heart-warming and heart-breaking. I’ve always admired grandparents’ love for us grandkids. The stats bear out that most of them are very focused on their second tier of offspring: 7 in 10 grandparents think being one is the single most…

Tag: grandparents

8 Tried-and-Tested Ways To Raise Book-Lovers.

My oldest kids (ages 5, 7 and 9) have evolved into voracious readers. For example, Julie and I just took them on a 3 day holiday. Other than beach-going, their recreational preference was reading. Eli and Fynn clocked in hours everyday in pure reading pleasure. Ivy, who can’t yet read, nonetheless flipped through picture book…

Tag: cultivating-kids, kids-and-books, kids-and-screens

There’s Only One Method I’ve Discovered That Gets Kids To Listen The First Time Almost Every Time.

Parenting often feels like hostage negotiation with drunken, bipolar pirates. When our kids run amok, many of us parents resort to either just giving in to their mutiny, or by bombing them with rage-driven cannon balls. But there is a much better way. As far as I know it is the only way to bring…

Tag: boundaries-rules, discipline, enlisting-co-operation, misbehaviour

Eat, Move, Sleep and 3 Other Daily Keys to Becoming A Healthier Family.

How does a family become healthier every single day? By that I mean cultivating the all-round wholeness of interpersonal connection, of body, of mind and of soul. There is something about the pace and busyness of life nowadays that mitigates against healthiness in families. So many of us have forgotten that pursuing achievement (such as…

Tag: exercise, family-habits, food, health

6 Ways To Herd Halflings

Parent, here’s how to save kilowatts of energy and sand dunes of sanity as you more skillfully guide your kids’ daily behaviours, attitudes and cooperation. I’m thinking of getting them to… climb out of bed, get dressed, wear underpants, eat their breakfast, take their bag, climb in the car, get off the jungle gym, change…

Tag: enlisting-co-operation

12 Tried-and-Tested Skills to Get Your Kids to WANT to Do What You Say

Want to know how to get your kids to want to listen to you? Not just because they’ve got to, but because they get to? In this post I will share the 12 skills you need to do so. But a disclaimer is in order: just because Julie and I know this list does not…

Tag: enlisting-co-operation

Why Small Kids Misbehave

Kids who misbehave need more than just correction. They need understanding. I am not saying don’t correct them, but if you correct them but fail to understand why they’re acting like a demon, you’re missing a trick. By misbehaving I think of things like your child climbing on the baby, shouting, hitting, throwing things, or…

Tag: misbehaviour

The 3 Crucial Modes of Parenting: Which Is Missing In The Way You Parent?

There are 3 paramount modes of parenting: being a Pants-wearer, a Pied Piper and a Pal. Like a 3-legged chair needs all 3 legs, so we need all 3 aspects in the way we parent our kids. Before I explain these terms, let me tell you how I came to understand these 3 modes. It…

Tag: authority, enlisting-co-operation

Rehumanize 101 – How Excluding Others Slowly Kills You Both

We have never been more polarized as a society. It’s not just South Africa, it’s the DSA (Divided States of America), it’s the whole world. Whipped up emotions and more vocal than ever, we all tend to be part of the problem. And social media allows each of us to vent our views and frustrations….

Tag: south-africa

Find Out How The Kids We Say We Love Spell ‘Love’.

As Julie walked down the aisle, I was sure I’d never love another like that. I was wrong. Five years later, when I first glimpsed all 3 kgs of Eli, my heart fell in love all over again. In fact I’d fall in love a further 4 times – Fynn followed 2 years later, then…

Tag: time