The Joys of Creative Parenting

When my kids were much younger, I read all the parenting books and tips that I could get my hands on.  It didn't really help...I am a firstborn child, so, I am a "know-it-all", and already had opinions on everything, including parenting.  And, the one thing that the books never tell you is, each child is different, and parenting is just "trial and error". O.K., so that is 2 things; but, if every child were the same, then, parenting would not be "trial and error".  So, these statements belong together, as 2 halves of 1 whole.  Today, I want to share a couple of the tips that worked for me, and a couple of resources.

When they were young, I read them stories each night, at bedtime.  But, as they got older, if they read a book, I usually read it, too.  This was under the guise of being able to talk to them about it (intelligently), later.  Truth is, I love to read, and it gave me an excuse to be nosy, and find out what they were reading.  To this day, if they read a book, they ask me whether I would like to read it.  They already know the answer!


When we drove in the car, we had rules for taking turns riding in the coveted "shotgun" seat.  I allowed the person riding "shotgun" to choose the radio station, with the understanding that if I heard anything that I thought was offensive, I would change the station immediately!  This was my sneaky creative way of finding out what kind of music they were listening to, and whether it was appropriate.  I need to apologize, right here, to all of my kids' friends who thought that I was "cool" for letting them control the radio station, or because I knew who Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, and Jewel were (yes, it has been a long time, since this took place..."a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away...").  Not that any of them read my blog, but, "just sayin'"...not cool, just creative.


One of my favorite parenting books How to Talk so Kids will Listen, and Listen so Kids will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (found here) was a real help to me.  The most important lesson, for me personally, was just learning to Listen to our kids.  When you don't think that you have the patience to do that, they have some very creative ways to handle the situation! LOL :)



One of my favorite resources, when the kids were in high school, was Moms in Touch International.  A group of moms, getting together to pray for their children (and the Good Lord knows how much I needed to do this!).  I learned about what was going on in the kids' school, from other parents' perspectives, and was able to pray with them, covering all of our students in prayer.  It is an AWESOME resource!

Just a few creative ways to parent and have fun doing it!