Parent tips

Love them, treat them with respect, talk to them, teach them right from wrong and spoil them rotten occasionally!

Never forget what you wrote:

Enjoy

Eagleeye,

You darling Man, such a lovely piece to write. You have reminded me of
the first time my babies were handed to me after birth. Such a divine
moment...
Love love love. thats it in a nut shell, sometimes it has to
be tough. if it comes to this ever. Dont lay down the law without first
explaining to your child.  For every action / the reaction. This was drummed
into mine! Talk talk talk to them . ask them about things. Sit and ask, not when your busy. It has to be uninterupted time. Which is hard i know.
If you say something mean it. no mixed messages?
My nephew who is young and profoundly deaf. is hilarious and always up to devilment.
Well with this young Bucaill {Boy} its the same. no mixed
messages.If he does something hes not supposed to, we use the "No sign
to him, but we make a very stern face with it, He gets the message very
quickly. Where if we just make the no sign he feels he can get away with
stuff!
I hope you understand what im trying to impart to you.
always talk to your kids eye to eye. every day tell them you love them.
If i dont see my big grown men i ring them every day to do this.
Im sure they groan at times, but its always there reassurance from me.
you and your lovely wife will always be there Santa Clause" Never forget this.
Get them involved in as many things as possible. they will find there own chosen pleasures and hobbies.
If you have a good guitar, buy your child a cheap one! to belt around with!
mixed message here. She cannot grow up not respecting the value of anything! I have an old guitar here for the Family kids when they visit.
So guidelines must be set!

Good times and blessings to you and yours.
Its a hard but wonderful experience as you both grow together!
it also goes by in the blink of an eye!

So savour the moment

Old Doll.

AbsolutelyNothing wrong

at all with being the doting Dad. But "Lil Miss Rachael" is already asserting

Her powers, around Dad. If she feels she can have anything Dad has
she will use this as a tool around you.

Then you inadvertantly  Allow Missy to isolate your wife, her Mam. Believe
me  Joe, already Missy knows this. Never underestimate the powers
of a woman! from Birth to Death

And behind every good man? tra lalalalalalalalalalaaalalalalalalalal.:lol:

I jest! but only on the last line!

Old Doll.

Being a daddy is fantastic - Like Old Doll and Upyerkilt were saying, talking is very important.  Answer their questions honestly and ask them questions also.

Turn off the television and get into the habit of doing things together - playing games, or going for a walk, or making up stories together, or anything you can do to have fun together.

Household routines are important - simple little activities surrounding the mundane daily events of meals and bathing and bedtime.  Help your child learn to help with basic tasks and have fun doing it together.

Singing together is huge fun.  Make up sing-along songs and actions to go along with the words.  I posted a songbook full of Kid Songs:
http://www.chordie.com/publicbooks.php? … ngid=57901
It looks like there are only 4 songs in there, but one of the listings actually has 40+ nursery rhymes and Mother Goose songs.

Being 'Daddy's Girl' is a phase that will come and go - enjoy it while it lasts!

Spoil them when they're little.  That way when you say no, it's meaningful.

You can not steer your kids.  You can only point them in the right direction, and aid them with the occasional course correction.

Set high expectations.  Ensure that they understand what their responsibilities are.  Do not let them slack at school.  It will impact them for the rest of their days.

Respect them as people.  Kids are not automatons.  They are little people with their own ideas and agendas.

No child ever learned a thing from your mistakes.  They're going to make their own whether you like it or not.  I teach mine from a young age that there is no sympathy for self inflicted wounds.

Never do for them something they can do for themselves.

Always let them know you love them, and that they are always safe with you.

Please tell me you can't have kids

Jerome,
Love the pics.
Family life has definitely changed me.
It's a never ending change.
I'm thankful for what I've got.
My daughter and step-daughters all have their daddy wrapped around their fingers.

I've told my wife that my daughters will be nuns. I'm going to send them to nun school. There will be none of this, none of that, and none of the other.

Someday, I know that the children will all be grown and have their own little families, and I live in denial of this. They're all still babies to me, and for now I just can't envision anyone else holding them. " I Love You Daddy," is a very powerful thing.

Hah!  Yeah.  I'm a sucker, too. 

I teach my girls one cardinal rule about boys.  "Boys are stupid, and easy to replace."  And it's true.  Boys are a fact of life if you have daughters, particularly if you have pretty daughters (and who doesn't?)  What I taught mine was not to base her self worth on a boy, or to get so wrapped up in a boy that she would make sacrifices of her own life for it.  Boys are, after all, stupid, and easy to replace.    If the one you have doesn't work out, there will be a new one on the next bus, guaranteed.  Since she has that attitude, "boy problems" are self correcting.

Indeed.

I think I have learned more about my relationship with God from my kids than any other possible source.

Things that I say to my kids strike me suddenly as applying to myself when thinking of my heavenly Father.  "Slow obedience is disobedience."  Ooops.  Dang.   "I discipline you because I love you.  If I didn't love you, it wouldn't matter to me whether you misbehave."  Uh-huh.  Yeah.  Good to remember.  "Honey.  There is absolutely nothing you can do that could possibly make me not love you.  No matter how grown you get and how tall you are, you will always be my little girl."  What a comfort!  (Well, you know, except I'm a boy and all) 

My girls can push your buttons and get you riled faster than anything.  But I'm learning that the more attention I pour onto them, the less they try.  It's a balancing act.  I work from home sometimes, so I can't be pouring attention onto them and still earn a living.  So they need to learn to obey Daddy, and I need to learn to pay attention to the kiddos when they're behaving so that they won't misbehave to get my attention. 

As far as general advice, well, I don't know.  Remember that they don't know anything.  They're not little adults.  They need to be taught how to be behave, how to solve problems, everything.  Another balance - while teaching them, don't force unnecessary conformity.  They will never be more creative than they are now.  Don't reduce that needlessly.  But then again, it's not OK to let them be non-conformists and explorers if that means they stick a fork ino the electric outlet. 

Good luck. 

- Zurf

"Respect is to be earned not demanded"- something papa always said to me.

All You Need is Love