Blog Archives

8 Benefits of Reading for Children

3/11/2017

Yes! As a father I had this terrible affliction and it remains to this day as a grandfather. When I read to my kids, I have yawning fits. I cannot get three pages in to a kids’ book before it starts. When I try not to yawn and continue reading, I sound like an elephant’s mating call. The kids never seem to mind that much. They patiently wait until I get my mouth back into reading position only to get four or five words in before another yawn comes. My wife, on the other hand, just laughs at my disorder.

I don’t know why this happens. But I do know why reading to my kids is so very important!

Reading to your kids is like, well it’s like being a dad. The closeness, the caring, the teaching, the connecting are all happening at the same time, not to mention the learning. But don’t just listen to me! Read what the experts from "in the book" have to say!

Click on: 8 Benefits of Reading for Children

Reading to your children, even when they are infants, is one of the most important activities a parent can do to prepare their children for success!

PS. "The 16 Differences Between a Father and a Dad" can be found in the archives to the right. See March thru May 2017.

#powerofdadhood

0 Comments

You Should Be the ‘Most Perfect’ Person You Know

3/6/2017

1 Comment

Yes, the title sounds a little imposing and very much a challenge. You would like to be perfect, but you don’t want to be held to that standard. Being perfect is impossible and even if you were, many people would be waiting for you to fall or to make a mistake. But let’s look at perfect in a different way. Let’s say being perfect is achieving your best self. This standard, while closer to being reachable, may be attainable for short periods, but not sustainable. You would, however, be far ahead of most people if you were to strive to this standard. As I used to tell my children, reach for the stars and the moon becomes relatively manageable.

In striving for perfection, we are, ourselves, the only person in which we truly have control. Of course, our young children need to be controlled to protect them from harm, but that is a responsibility. Controlling their lives would be ruining their freedom to choose. Hopefully, we will have influence over them in a positive way, but they ultimately decide to accept your influence or not.

What is Perfect?

Some think of perfect as an absolute – a perfect diamond, a perfect rose, a perfect evening. But a perfect diamond is the best one you can afford. A perfect rose is the one a loved one brings to you. A perfect evening depends mostly on who you are with.

Again, we only have control over our own lives, given our strengths and weaknesses - and that is very important to note! A perfect branch is not perfectly straight. A perfect cloud can have countless shapes. A perfect day for a gecko may not be a perfect day for a duck. Perfection, in my mind, is performing the best you can with what you’ve got given the circumstances that surround you.

Perfection within Limitations

My oldest daughter was a perfect softball player. She was not the best softball player, not even the best on her team. But she always showed up! She always ran as fast as she could. And she played for her teammates more than she did for herself. There was nothing I could have asked of her to be better. There were, however, other players who were less than perfect than my daughter even though they could run faster, hit better, or were naturally more athletic.

If I met someone who liked baseball, photography, and airplanes as I do, then I would think they were close to being perfect as a friend. My wife would not think that person a perfect friend at all, even though she puts up with me liking those things. Perfection in our relationship depends on our being loving, listening, and sharing. Did I mention this standard is difficult to attain? But striving for perfection remains the secret, like my daughter did in softball.

You Control Your Own Level of Perfection

If you think kindness, openness, manners, and work ethic are the keys to approaching perfection as a human being, then you are the only one you can control to become that person. Your personality, skills, and attitude are yours! You own them. But you don’t own anyone else’s. Because of that fact, you should be, or strive to be, the most perfect person you know! Your perfection is how you see the world not others because your perfection would never be anyone else’s. Then there are those who consider perfection as having no responsibilities, no goals to work towards, nor having to meet anyone’s expectations. That is a perfect waste of a life!

Conclusion

In softball, absolute perfection is batting 1.000. But perfection as a player is trying your best at all times to bat 1.000 knowing a perfect performance may be batting .400 for one player, and batting .275 for another. The real world will be looking at perfection with a world view. The .400 hitter will be favored. That’s just how the real world works. However, don’t ever let that reality hurt your self-worth!

I want each of my children and grandchildren to be the most perfect person they know possible. Clearly, they need to understand that I never expect them to be perfect to anyone else’s standards. I do hope they have high standards for themselves. That’s where my wife and I have expectations of ourselves, to instill those standards in them the best we can, with the skills we have, and the circumstances that surround us.

1 Comment

Forward>>

8 Benefits of Reading for Children

﻿You Should Be the ‘Most Perfect’ Person You Know

Archives

Categories

You Should Be the ‘Most Perfect’ Person You Know