Читать книгу Do As I Say, Not As I Did - Michael N Marcus - Страница 50

Lesson: this strategy can backfire later on if your child’s classmates learn the secret and make fun of her or him for being left behind.

•Most birthdays signify nothing more than completing another 365 days of consuming air, water and food—but our culture demands celebration. Give special privileges for birthdays. When I was a kid, each member of the family got to choose a restaurant for birthday meals.

•Consider a low-key family celebration to mark a daughter’s first menstruation. It’s normal, a legitimate coming-of-age event, an educational opportunity and isn’t yucky.

•Take your children on trips—for hours, days, weeks, any amount of time you can get away. Let the kids help plan the itinerary. Teach the kids to read maps and to follow your family’s progress when you travel. It’s educational, fun and can help avoid disasters.

•If you have several kids it’s important to treat them equally, but also make each one feel special. Give each kid an occasional special day, even if it’s just to go out for a walk or an ice cream.

•Just because you’re a parent, you don’t always have to behave like an adult. It’s OK to wear a silly hat, get down on the floor, roll down a hill, throw snowballs, do silly tricks and make fart sounds. However, don’t do anything stupid while driving.

•Encourage kids to spend time being active and outdoors.

•Encourage them to provide community service, to help neighbors and to not expect to be paid for doing routine household chores.

•Help kids become comfortable in front of groups. Encourage acting, singing, playing an instrument, acrobatics, magic, athletics, etc.

•Make learning fun. I knew two little kids who became math wizards because their father taught them to play blackjack when they were still in preschool.

(above) When I was in high school I had a part-time job selling shoes. One time a woman came in with her son who was probably four or five years old. She asked me to explain shoe sizes to him. I told him that I measured foot length and width and I let him try the “Brannock Device” to measure his sister’s feet.

He did very well and learned that “longer” and “wider” were more precise than simply “bigger.”