Any book left on the tank of the toilet will be read cover-to-cover. This can be used to your advantage.

Be careful what you teach them. Decades ago I made a sandwich for one of the very young Jr. DFs. He sat in his booster chair anticipating his peanut butter and honey lunch (...or was it bologna?....). The instant after I placed the plate in front of his face ( even with a booster he sat low to the table) I poked a hole through the bread with my finger. His brothers laughed but the look of disappointment and surprise in his expression is dyed into my memory. It still makes me chuckle.

Well, since that fateful day I have not had a sandwich in the presence of any of the Jr. DFs that didn't have a finger hole in it. One day when I was alone I made a triple decker roast beef beauty with swiss cheese and all of the goodies. Before sitting down to enjoy my snack I went down the hall to use the bathroom. While finishing up I heard the garage door slam. With great urgency I dried my hands and lurched out of the hall bath to the kitchen to find a huge finger hole penetrating all three layers. Jr DF #1 lol'd on his way down the stairs.

In San Francisco several years ago I bought the boys a burger lunch on one of the piers ( I forget which). I didn't even sit down to the table yet when I realized I had forgotten something back at the burger shack. Upon my return I found two finger holes with the bread plugs removed from my burger. When I took my first bite, the ketchup squished up through the holes and coated the tip of my nose to uproarious laughter of my younglings. lol

The moral of the story is be careful what you teach them.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I am not a parent, but I was raised by parents so I know a little about the process.

I believe that it’s very important to teach children (and some adults, for that matter) that many people work for free—assuming that “free” means not getting paid money for it. I have performed countless hours of unpaid work, and even when doing it actually cost me money, and not just time and effort. The same is true of innumerable other people. I cannot imagine what a sad and sorry society we would live in if everyone demanded to be paid for every bit of “work” they perform for others.

You get paid, just not with money. Compensation comes in many forms, especially in volunteering.

As a father of teens.,. Be the person you want them to be. And take lots of pictures, even when you think it’s silly to take a picture.

In keeping with darthfusters post about being careful about what you teach kids:
My son spent a lot of time hanging around the police dept. My co-workers taught him to "check his baggage". It came down to this: Whenever they saw my son, no matter what the setting, they would say... Hey! Check your baggage! And my son would grab his nutz vigorously. Michael Jackson had nothing on my kid.
This went on for years and my buddies thought it was hilarious. The kid did too.
His mother, not so much! Needless to say we are now divorced.

quote:

Originally posted by SigJacket:
just not with money.

And that is a lesson children should be taught.
Unfortunately, many people never learn it.

When my kids became teenager, we arranged the “free ride home.” Call, ask for a free ride and I will come get you. No questions asked, no explanation required.the point was to get them home safe.
My son used the free ride once. I picked him up in a bad section of Tacoma. We did not say a word on the way home and to this day I have no idea what happened.
However, he got home safe.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
With twin boys, everything comes down to 'what's fair'; especially when if comes to dividing food of some type into two.

From a very young age my answer has been to let one boy do the dividing, and the other boy choose which piece he wanted. Works every time.

What else do you have?

(And if we could avoid turning this thread into a debate about discipline and criticizing folks parenting skills, that would be appreciated.)

The purpose of this thread is light hearted and useful tips that we dads and mom’s can share with each other.

That's actually a great idea and a game theory concept. An example is in splitting a business between two partners - one gets to value the business and the other gets to choice whether to be bought out or to buy the other out.

It results in a most equitable division.

My sister has one for her three children - whatever benefit she gives to one, she gives the exact same thing to the other two. I used to try to persuade her that it's okay to help the one child who needs more help when the other two are well off financially.

I now see the wisdom in that.

grocery shopping during nap time almost never works w/o disturbing the other shoppers.

napping while trying to grocery shop almost never works w/o disturbing other shoppers

I only have one and she's 20 years old now.
I missed a lot being on 2nd shift most of my life. I did get full custody of her when she was 14 and did the best I could do.
Single parenting is a lot different. Biggest thing I stressed was independence.