I got home exhausted the other day, Jay had made a mess. He was refusing to do his homework, and hadn’t showered. All he wanted to do was continue playing. He refused every request I made, no matter how I asked him. He was just in that mood where he will contradict everything that’s said to him.

So I start shouting, raising my voice, because I couldn’t think of anything else to do. At least, that’s what I would have done in the past. I know it doesn’t work, but there comes a point when you’ve tried everything you can think of, and it’s the only option left. read more

“But all my friends have one” she yelled at the woman who had to be her mother. “I don’t care” she responded, “You’re too young to have your own phone”. “I’m twelve, and everyone else already has one” the girl screams back. Standing there in the middle of the phone shop, the mother and daughter play out a scene that is becoming all too common.

Our children are being exposed to technology at a young age, and as parents we seek to limit and direct our offspring through the treacherous waters that tech can lead to. In a lot of cases this means we aren’t just battling with our children, but also with other parents that have a different view of the world and all it has to offer. read more

Jay, my son, is sitting at the table frowning at his Chinese homework, “You can do it if you try”, we tell him. “We believe in you. When you push yourself, you do really well at this”, we continue encouraging him. But then we go too far, “You’re really smart, just take your time and you’ll get it all right.”

As parents, we all (at least I hope all), want to encourage our children to do well at school, but how do we know if we’re pushing encouraging them too much? And what was wrong with that last thing we said to Jay? read more

The other night Jay, my son, SO, my wife, and I were sitting in the kitchen talking and SO was looking through her Pokemon Go app, when she asked a question about what she needed to evolve a certain Pokemon. If you’re not sure what that means, don’t worry it’s not that important for this story. The thing is, Jay started going off about what was needed in detail, talking about what she needed and what the evolutions were and a whole bunch of other facts that, to be frankly honest, confused both SO and I. He actually went on for about ten minutes, even though the answer to her question was just a single item. read more

It’s been a long day at the office and you’re exhausted. You walk in the front door, and your son (or daughter) is on you. “Mummy, I hurt my foot at school. Can you make it better?”. “Mummy, Bobby teased me.”. You didn’t even get a chance to take your shoes off, and you have a million and one problems to solve before dinner.

You check with his father, and he knows nothing of these problems. It’s not that he doesn’t care, if he’s anything like me he does. The thing is, your little one sees you as the problem solver and has been storing up his problems and anxieties until you got home. read more

I’ve written before about Jay’s weight, and how he’s been required to go for regular checks with a nutritionist here. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’ll give you a minute to go and read it.

Okay, finished with that? Cool.

Anyway, he had another appointment last week, and as a responsible parent I felt it was my duty to take him. Well, that’s my story. My wife, SO, seems to think I only took him because she was busy and told me to take him. You can make up your own mind, and decide I’m right. read more

So, it was Easter this last weekend, and we celebrated in our typical fashion by not doing anything special. Well, okay, we spent the time together as a family doing our own family type things.

Mostly it was just another long weekend, with Good Friday being a holiday, but unlike in Australia, Monday is back to work/school.

Sunday was the only time we did anything specifically Eastery, with the eggs coming out to be dyed. Since I never did this as a child, unless I blocked it out and I’m going to get a call from my mother to remind me, this was all SO’s department. We ended up doing about 8 eggs, with SO making a smurf egg, and Jay wanting to do his as Pokemon. I’m not sure how well they turned out, we’re not gong to get any rewards for artistic perfection here, but it was fun and something we did as a family. read more

Last week I wrote about how electronics are effecting our kids and in some cases are causing them to actually become psychotic. If you haven’t read it yet, you can do so here.

As a result my wife, SO, and I sat down and discussed our options. We decided that the best way to help Jay, and ourselves, was to reduce all of our electronics usage. What this means, is that when Jay is around we also stop playing games on our phones and iPads, and any other electronic devices. We haven’t even turned on the TV once since we made the decision. The only time we pick up and use our phones is for calls and messages. read more

I’ve always been into electronics. From an Atari system when I was young, to a PC, and through the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PS4. We also have a Wii and of course got the iPad 1, and now an iPad Air 2. Not to mention our smart phones, android for me and iPhone for my wife.

With all these electronics around, it was only natural that Jay, our son, was exposed at an early age. It seemed like such a great idea, and there are plenty of educational apps for him to use and get a head start on his education. And he did. He’s always kept a bit ahead of his peers because of that early learning, whether it was learning his numbers and alphabet, or math and english. read more

It happens all the time. You drop your son or daughter off to school, and as you hop back in the car, you realise that they’ve forgotten something. Maybe it’s a book, or their lunch/water bottle, or something else they’ll probably need that day. So, off we go, back into the school to drop off the item at the school office so that it can be delivered to out child’s classroom. But is this the best idea to help our children become more independent?

Would it be better to just leave and let them deal without having that thing for one day? Which choice would be best in helping them to become more independent? And make them not rely on their parents fixing every little problem for them. read more