Results tagged “radical parenting” from Buzz
My lovely colleague Vanessa Van Petten of www.radicalparenting does it again with a blog about monitoring kids online.
Read it here:
Great info from Vanessa at Radical Parenting. I'll let her take it away!
http://tinyurl.com/ydzb94u
Vanessa Van Petten wrote her first parenting book in her late teens and has a great parenting website, www.radicalparenting.com She sent this a few weeks ago and I think it bears repeating!
Myth: Kids want to be your friend.
Reality: Kids want parents, not peers. Kids want a strong line between the parent role and the friend role.
Myth: Kids are embarrassed by you.
Reality: Not true! It's far more embarrassing to have parents that do not care and are not there.
Myth: When kids act like they are not listening, they aren't.
Reality: They can hear you and are usually listening, they just might not respond.
Thanks much to www.radicalparenting.com for making my books their featured books a couple of weeks ago.
If you don't know who they are, Radical Parenting is run by a 24 year old woman, Vanessa Van Petten, who wrote her first parenting book at age 17! Not to worry, she's not a parent - just a person who's been parented. She and her team of teenage writers help us become better parents by letting us into their world.
Here are their Parenting Prinicples and man, are they right on!
1) There are no ‘perfect parents’, formulas, easy answers or a ‘right’ way to parent. There is a right way for your family, you have to constantly strive to find it.
2) Live the You-Them-You Perspective. Learning to see how the other side feels is one of the most difficult ideas to master. Adopting this yourself and teaching your kids to think about their needs and then other’s needs is a wonderful way to teach children gratitude and perspective. We hope to give you tools to do this.
3) Constantly challenge what we think we know. ‘Radical’ means to question the status quo and what isn’t working. This is how we grow as a family and as human beings. Find your mirror, whether it is our blog, a radical parenting friend, or your spouse to examine patterns and habits that are not working.
4) Stay open-minded. We never know what another person is really thinking. Parents and kids who remain open-minded and open to suggestions have less fights, resentment and guilt.
5) Guilt is not a tool we use. This is a hard one, but we will always try to help you end guilt cycles and passive aggressiveness—help us too!
6) Communicate the hard stuff. Maintain and push for open and honest communication even if it is difficult to say or hear.
7) Abundance in love. You can never express your love for your family members too much.
8 ) Regular weekly Family Bonding Time. Spending quality (not necessarily) quantity time with your family is essential to working out issues, forming bonds and getting to know the unique needs of your family.
9) Monthly Family Check-Ins. Having one family check-in per month and at each family check-in filling out a family sheet for each family member and making new family goals. This is a way for you to become accountable to each other and help other family members achieve their goals.
10) Asking for help from your community. Ask for help from friends, family or other Radical Parent Community members when you need it, you do not have to be alone. Start your own Radical Support Group.
Check it out yourself! www.radicalparenting.com
