Adventures in Parenting

This is our pet bunny Smokey.
When we tell her to come, she doesn’t come. When we tell her to jump, she doesn’t jump.
But when we dangle a carrot a front of her, she’ll go anywhere the carrot leads!
Dale Carnegie tells this story of of Ralph Waldo Emerson:
One day, Emerson and his son tried to get [...]

When I am shopping, I like to give a compliment to the clerks.
I look hard for something to give a sincere compliment. “That’s a nice necklace you have on” or “I like that color of nail polish on you.”
My ulterior motive is, if I am nice to them, they will give me better service!
Dale Carnegie’s [...]

What do we say to our children when they make an ugly face or cross their eyes?
“Your face and eyes are going to get stuck that way!”
In the same way, we can get into a habit of being negative and critical of our children that we get stuck that way.
Dale Carnegie writes this:
“Often parents are [...]

Have you read the classic How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie?
It’s been more than 10 years since I read it, and I am reading it again.

I am recommending this book for every parent.
The timeless principles in this book has made this a top seller since it was written in the 1930’s. [...]

How do you like the new look of this blog?
You might’ve figured that pink is one of my favorite colors.
Thank you David, my designer and good friend, Mike, my better half and tech support, Amy, my daughter for the great logo, and Elliot, my son for believing in me.
I am going to celebrate this new [...]

My mother-in-law lives with us.
You read it right. My mother-in-law lives with us.
My father-in-law passed away of cancer about 10 years ago, and she has been living with us for about that long now.
What is your reaction when you read this?  People usually think I am either a martyr or a saint.
But the truth is, [...]

Summer is a great time to catch up on reading, both for yourself and for your children. The libraries and bookstores are nicely air-conditioned, and the seats are comfortable!
What types of books do you like to read?
I just finished reading Fairy Foals with my daughter. In fact, we read it rather slowly because each page [...]

A friend who doesn’t have kids said today, “I am going to make sure that when I have kids, it’ll be when I am ready and really want them.”
I thought I was ready when I was 29 and had my first child. Yet, being a parent so changed my life beyond what I could’ve imagined.
Do [...]

I haven’t had time to post the last few days - Summer vacation started!
Are your kids home for the summer like mine are? Do you find yourself out of routine, off schedule, and seem to get nothing done?
And it’s ok! It’s ok to do things differently; it’s ok to have no routine; it’s ok to [...]

Have you noticed that It doesn’t come off well when we tell our girls to dress modestly?
Yes, we’ve been told we are old-fashion, we are too conservative, we don’t know the current styles, we are out of date, everyone else wears it, etc., etc., etc.
Girls basically dress to be attractive to boys, right? What if [...]

The beautiful site you see here was designed by my friend David.
And now, he is redesigning it for me! I am so excited!
Be ready to see a new design here shortly.
By the way, did I ever tell you that the logo you see on the banner and on my podcasts was drawn by my daughter? [...]

It may surprise you to know that my children do not like to drink soda.
We basically like to drink water. When we go out to eat, we save a lot of money because we don’t order any soft drinks. It’s great.
I didn’t drink soda growing up and never liked it. So when I had children, [...]

The spirit of meanness comes out in the best of us when we can be mean while remaining anonymous.
Just look at ourselves when we drive. We feel little hesitancy in cursing other drivers and giving them dirty looks or gestures, while remaining inside the safety and privacy of our cars,  Most of us wouldn’t be [...]

My husband and I both had parents who owned their own businesses.
So it seemed natural that my husband and I carried on the entrepreneurial spirit.
At the time when I was pregnant with our 3rd child, my husband gave up a stable job in hospital administration and started our real estate business. Just as we opened [...]

Honestly, we parents get rather defensive when it comes to people giving us advice about our kids.

Before my brother had his own kids, he would often give me [unsolicited] advice. “Don’t let your son play with that.” or “You’re spoiling him by doing that.”
My response: Wait till you have your own kids. And sure enough, [...]