Thursday 22 October 2009

'Dad Rules' Parenting Tips

Dad RulesSome of you may be familiar with the 'Dad Rules' column that used to appear in the Sunday Times 'Style' magazine. Written by Andrew Clover, Dad to three girls and also a comedian, the column would often provide amusing anecdotal parenting insight to readers and there was many a Sunday morning when I would start laughing out loud whilst reading it.

Before having our son, I cut out one particular column and stuck on our fridge. It was entitled 'Everything there is to know about children'  and listed 10 parenting tips. They seemed both practical and helpful, whilst still retaining Andrew Clover's usual humour. (See the link to the column at the end of this post).

Now that I am a parent, these 'Dad Rules' tips have greater resonance and I think they offer really good advice. Here are a couple I've chosen to highlight and add some of my thoughts to:

1) Stick to the Schedule - children are creatures of habit and routine and they are reassured and comforted by knowing what's coming next.

2) Never Bribe - although my son is not yet at the age where he understands a bribe, I hear so many parents of older children using bribe tactics and I think it suggests desperation and a lack of parental authority.

6) When they’re upset, show you understand, then distract - children are quick to forget something that happened just a moment ago and so it's good to help them focus on something different that will bring a smile back to their face.


Read the full list of 'Everything there is to know about children' here. Andrew Clover also published a book last year, 'Dad Rules: How My Children Taught Me To Be a Good Parent: What I Learned from My Girls'. If you are interested to know more, click on the image above for details.


1 comment:

  1. Love it! How about -- do what your wife says and don't argue?

    BTW -- just getting around to putting up your post on London Mums Blog -- it should be up today!

    ReplyDelete

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