5 ms·

I'm sure some of this was already mentioned, but here it goes... Read to your children. We set a goal of reading 100 novels to our daughters. We're at #80 and

by RyanOD 4y ago

I'm sure some of this was already mentioned, but here it goes... Read to your children. We set a goal of reading 100 novels to our daughters. We're at #80 and the girls are 13 and 11. Create some traditions. Whenever either of our daughters lost a tooth, I'd write a letter from the tooth fairy. The letters offered advice, humor, fairy "facts" and even maps to buried treasure they could go dig up. In retrospect, I wish I'd done more creative things like this. Build things together. Teach your children to use their hands. Clay, crochet, knitting, model building, woodworking, papercrafting, LEGO, playing an instrument, gardening, etc. Don't rush things. Your young child doesn't need that new gadget or that new app or that new programming language. Stick with blocks, trains, LEGO, puzzles, model rockets, art, dress up, books, etc. as long as you can. Give your children their freedom and let them fail. Children shouldn't be shielded from the world or from not succeeding. With struggle comes growth. Always remember, some days of parenting seem to drag on forever, but the years will fly by. Try your best to be present and congratulations!

garrickvanburen 4y ago
Yes - to reading and traditions. Even if it’s something silly like “ice cream for dinner on the first 90F summer day”
wingtw 4y ago
Definitive yes to reading! It develops them so quickly AND its a joy to both. Start early, doesnt matter if they dont yet understand. Just listenong your voice and building a habit you both will adore
- philliphaydon 4y ago
  Yes start early! Very important in my opinion! It’s good bonding too!
denton-scratch 4y ago
> Read to your children. We set a goal of [...] I would have said "read to them", but it seemed too obvious to mention. I loved reading to my kids at bedtime. I got A LOT better at reading aloud; I think that by the time it ended (they became faster at reading to themselves than I could read aloud), I had become quite an exciting, theatrical reader. Something episodic, like The Arabian Nights, is useful: "It's bedtime. Do you want to know what happened to AliBaba next?" Books with illustrations are good, for avoiding interruptions like "Dad, what's an elephant?" But not picture-books; there has to be something to read. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is for them to read on their own. Setting an annual target reading quota seems a bit like over-anxious parenting. Just read for ten minutes, 365 nights per year. You'll have to spend that ten minutes settling them anyway; might as well make it fun for them and yourself.
- RyanOD 4y ago
  Fair point about the quota. In my defense, we didn't set the "100" goal until we were at book 53. I happened to sit down one day and make a list of books we had read and thought, "Wow! That's a lot of books...I wonder if we could get to 100?" So it wasn't an up-front goal. It was more of an afterthought. But, fair point about having that be the driving force to your reading. Read for the love of being with your children and sharing stories.
CuriousSkeptic 4y ago
> Don't rush things. Your young child doesn't need that new gadget or that new app or that new programming language. Just want to put an emphasis on this. If I were to start over this is the thing I’d keep in mind. I would try to have more patience, letting it take a few more years to progress through levels (books, movies, games, activities). Not because later stuff is necessarily to advanced or age inappropriate, but because everything you choose to spend time with necessarily means thing you choose not to spend time with. Be where you are, and enjoy the present, the future will come. And also, on gadgets, the science on child development and screen time has advanced the last decade. I think the current take is to try to avoid screens entirely the first two years.
philliphaydon 4y ago
> Read to your children. I’ve been reading to my daughter since she was about 1 year 6 months. She’s 3 years 9 months now. It’s at the point that if she’s naughty I just say. Please pick up your toys or there won’t be a bed time story. And they are picked up quickly! She doesn’t want to miss out on story time.
- bakuninsbart 4y ago
  She's in the right age for my absolutely favourite kids book: "The three little wolves and the big bad pig". I'm in my 30s now, and still think very fondly back to this book, love showing it to my niece and other kiddos.
  - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
    Just bought this book (used) for my kid based on your comment. Thanks!
  - philliphaydon 4y ago
    Thanks! I added it to my cart on Amazon. Will purchase it when $$$ arrives. Love a good recommendation.
TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
Practice patience; everything you did before will now take at least twice as long.
- RyanOD 4y ago
  And don't be surprised when the best laid plans go awry and/or your child has zero interest in what you think is THE world's coolest thing.
kazinator 4y ago
Eleven years olds should be long into the age of reading novels on their own.
- samtheDamned 4y ago
  I was able to read early on in my childhood but I still enjoyed reading with my parents around that age. As you learn to read yourself it shifts from being read _to_ and instead to reading with your family.
- RyanOD 4y ago
  And they do! My girls devour novels in their free time, but still enjoy reading together before bed (or on roadtrips). Best of both worlds!
nouveaux 4y ago
Any chance you can share your novel list?
- RyanOD 4y ago
  Sure thing. The "To Read" list is always in flux as we discover new books and/or the girls weigh in on what they prefer. https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Zk9zl9I9posnzkHMEDmYK42Aq5Gwl-eehBj4HG3ZvY/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Zk9zl9I9posnzkHMEDmYK42... EDIT: Also, we didn't read them in this order. As I mentioned above, I didn't document this list until we were past 50.
usrn 4y ago
>Read to your children. >Build things together (wood working) My dad did this, I'm very very glad he did.
euroderf 4y ago
Just want to chime in that Lego is evil. Consumerist crap and the models don't even hold together properly. Try to get a decent metal construction kit. Some old Meccano or Erector set maybe. Nuts & bolts & gears & structural members. None of this obey-the-pictures-and-press-together-all-of-Dads-money stuff.
- halo37253 4y ago
  Just buy the tubs of legos, and let the do what they want. Lego is just fine.

by RyanOD 4y ago

garrickvanburen 4y ago

Yes - to reading and traditions. Even if it’s something silly like “ice cream for dinner on the first 90F summer day”

wingtw 4y ago

Definitive yes to reading! It develops them so quickly AND its a joy to both. Start early, doesnt matter if they dont yet understand. Just listenong your voice and building a habit you both will adore

philliphaydon 4y ago
Yes start early! Very important in my opinion! It’s good bonding too!

denton-scratch 4y ago

> Read to your children. We set a goal of [...] I would have said "read to them", but it seemed too obvious to mention. I loved reading to my kids at bedtime. I got A LOT better at reading aloud; I think that by the time it ended (they became faster at reading to themselves than I could read aloud), I had become quite an exciting, theatrical reader. Something episodic, like The Arabian Nights, is useful: "It's bedtime. Do you want to know what happened to AliBaba next?" Books with illustrations are good, for avoiding interruptions like "Dad, what's an elephant?" But not picture-books; there has to be something to read. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is for them to read on their own. Setting an annual target reading quota seems a bit like over-anxious parenting. Just read for ten minutes, 365 nights per year. You'll have to spend that ten minutes settling them anyway; might as well make it fun for them and yourself.

RyanOD 4y ago
Fair point about the quota. In my defense, we didn't set the "100" goal until we were at book 53. I happened to sit down one day and make a list of books we had read and thought, "Wow! That's a lot of books...I wonder if we could get to 100?" So it wasn't an up-front goal. It was more of an afterthought. But, fair point about having that be the driving force to your reading. Read for the love of being with your children and sharing stories.

CuriousSkeptic 4y ago

> Don't rush things. Your young child doesn't need that new gadget or that new app or that new programming language. Just want to put an emphasis on this. If I were to start over this is the thing I’d keep in mind. I would try to have more patience, letting it take a few more years to progress through levels (books, movies, games, activities). Not because later stuff is necessarily to advanced or age inappropriate, but because everything you choose to spend time with necessarily means thing you choose not to spend time with. Be where you are, and enjoy the present, the future will come. And also, on gadgets, the science on child development and screen time has advanced the last decade. I think the current take is to try to avoid screens entirely the first two years.

philliphaydon 4y ago

> Read to your children. I’ve been reading to my daughter since she was about 1 year 6 months. She’s 3 years 9 months now. It’s at the point that if she’s naughty I just say. Please pick up your toys or there won’t be a bed time story. And they are picked up quickly! She doesn’t want to miss out on story time.

bakuninsbart 4y ago
She's in the right age for my absolutely favourite kids book: "The three little wolves and the big bad pig". I'm in my 30s now, and still think very fondly back to this book, love showing it to my niece and other kiddos.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
  Just bought this book (used) for my kid based on your comment. Thanks!
- philliphaydon 4y ago
  Thanks! I added it to my cart on Amazon. Will purchase it when $$$ arrives. Love a good recommendation.

TedDoesntTalk 4y ago

Practice patience; everything you did before will now take at least twice as long.

RyanOD 4y ago
And don't be surprised when the best laid plans go awry and/or your child has zero interest in what you think is THE world's coolest thing.

kazinator 4y ago

Eleven years olds should be long into the age of reading novels on their own.

samtheDamned 4y ago
I was able to read early on in my childhood but I still enjoyed reading with my parents around that age. As you learn to read yourself it shifts from being read _to_ and instead to reading with your family.
RyanOD 4y ago
And they do! My girls devour novels in their free time, but still enjoy reading together before bed (or on roadtrips). Best of both worlds!

nouveaux 4y ago

Any chance you can share your novel list?

RyanOD 4y ago
Sure thing. The "To Read" list is always in flux as we discover new books and/or the girls weigh in on what they prefer. https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Zk9zl9I9posnzkHMEDmYK42Aq5Gwl-eehBj4HG3ZvY/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Zk9zl9I9posnzkHMEDmYK42... EDIT: Also, we didn't read them in this order. As I mentioned above, I didn't document this list until we were past 50.

usrn 4y ago

>Read to your children. >Build things together (wood working) My dad did this, I'm very very glad he did.

euroderf 4y ago

Just want to chime in that Lego is evil. Consumerist crap and the models don't even hold together properly. Try to get a decent metal construction kit. Some old Meccano or Erector set maybe. Nuts & bolts & gears & structural members. None of this obey-the-pictures-and-press-together-all-of-Dads-money stuff.

halo37253 4y ago
Just buy the tubs of legos, and let the do what they want. Lego is just fine.