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A Dad's Point of View: Being a Teenager Can Be Wonder-Full It?s so easy to complain about our teens. I know I?m guilty of too often dishing out criticisms, admonishments, and lectures. I worry that my boys might be doing drugs, drinking, or some other peer-pressure stupidity. But, they also deserve my support when they do well and my understanding when they slip up.
My 16-year-old, Will, recently bounded into my office, eager to talk. Wisely, I pulled away from the hypnotic lure of my computer, and faced him squarely, ready for whatever followed. Normally, when Will comes to talk to me, I am concerned that he either wants something or is going to confess something that I wish I didn?t have to hear. This time, I listened. And I listened and I listened. I smiled, I nodded, I grunted. But, mostly I listened. He had made a remarkable discovery! What was this remarkable revelation? ?Life is complicated and full of wonder and amazing things. Where did life come from? Why do we sleep? How does our brain work? Why are there different languages and how did they evolve?? He literally rambled off these and other subjects, as if he?d just discovered the wheel!
Will didn?t want me to offer any feedback: he just wanted to share with me his marvelous realizations. I just sat there and patiently let him passionately express these extraordinary questions. After maybe 15 minutes, he didn?t need me anymore and jumped up and left to call his girlfriend and share with her what he?d just voiced.
Later, as we were all getting ready for bed, he came into our bedroom, where my wife was lying down reading, and I had just come in to get ready for bed. He leaped on our chaise lounge, fell off to the side, and scrambled up laughing at his clumsiness. He then proclaimed, ?I love this family,? and proceeded to elaborate for a couple more minutes.
My wife and I actually wondered if Will had taken some drugs, as he seemed so high. But, he hadn?t, and was apparently just being a teenager--a teen enjoying the ?wonder-full-ness? of life.
That is my point. The older we get, the more we forget the wonder of youth, the wonder of being a teenager--discovering new worlds to explore and the new ideas that we feel are just ours. (Okay, let?s hear the Star Trek theme now).
Being a teenager means discovering the world. I think adults too often squash that sense of wonder with the desire to have our kids conform. That was my discovery during the short 18 months that I home-schooled Will, since the lack of conforming public school curriculum and class management allowed Will to learn so much more than he otherwise would have under the structure of public school. It?s why I believe home-schooling is really much better for some kids and, at the time, was the very best thing I could have done for Will.
The job of parents is to introduce our children to the world, to give them exposure to as much as we can, and to allow them to choose their paths. I know that early in my parenting, I had my ideas of what I wanted for my sons that were based on my own particular interests and desires. Fortunately, I got over that selfish instinct and ended up supporting my boys? own interests and dreams. I know too many parents that are single-minded in pushing their kids in the directions these parents think is best while not taking into consideration their kids interests, skills, and desires.
This is dramatically evident in the sports arena, where kids are sometimes literally forced to participate in a sport in which they have no interest. The reason is simply the parents? ego and vicarious desire to live through their kids. It is so wrong. We also see this in the over-the-top push that parents often inflict on their kids to excel at school so that they can get into this or that college that the parents deem best for their child.
I wonder if it ever occurred to those parents that their son or daughter might actually be better off with a year off between high school and college? Or, maybe not even going to college! Not every kid should go to college. Couldn?t college wait a year or two while these high school grads explore life on their own? Maybe they can see a bit more of the world rather than just continue in what can be the cocoon of education and parental (financial) support?
I may have wanted my sons to be great skiers, or get into an Ivy League college, but now I want them to fulfill their own passions and find the same joy in what they do that I?ve been blessed to find in my writing and now, my radio show as well. I urge you to do the same!
Please listen to ?The Bruce Sallan Show - A Dad?s Point-of-View? Thursdays at 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., PST on KZSB AM1290 in Santa Barbara or on the Internet via a live stream. For that link and all information about the show and Bruce, visit his web-site: http://brucesallan.com. Bruce?s column, ?A Dad?s Point-of-View,? is available in over 75 newspapers and web-sites worldwide. Find Bruce on Facebook by joining his ?A Dad?s Point-of-View? page: http://www.facebook.com/aDadsPointOfView. You can also follow Bruce at Twitter: http://twitter.com/BruceSallan.
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TMN Sponsorship Account Executive This is a TMN position. There are no membership pre-requisites required to apply. The Mommies Network is growing and as part of that growth, we need some good people in your market to help with sponsorships.
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Families, Kids Welcome to Specialty and Urgent Care Center for Fun Activities
By Debra Stevens
Phoenix Children?s Specialty & Urgent Care? Northwest Valley Center
Phoenix Children?s Hospital
Phoenix Children?s Hospital is bringing care closer to home for Northwest Valley families with the opening of a new Phoenix Children?s Specialty and Urgent Care - Northwest Valley Center. Although the center is already open for patient visits, the community is invited to the official grand opening celebration of this new 6,000-square-foot Center on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 from 9 a.m. to noon.
The open house event will feature fun, educational and interactive stations for kids, tours of the center, and mini-clinics on child health and safety for parents. The most popular activity allows kids to get a cast put on their finger. All activities are free.
The center is located at 20325 North 51st Avenue in Phoenix, just north of Loop 101.
The $3 million center will serve as a complement to pediatric practices in the neighborhood by providing convenient pediatric specialty care by appointment during the week. Parents will love the convenience of after hours, walk-in urgent care. For a child with a high fever, ear infection, sprain, or suspected pneumonia, the center provides exceptional care in a convenience, family-friendly setting.
Specific hours of operation and times are as follows: The Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. for appointments with specialists in endocrinology, gastroenterology, nephrology, neurology, orthopedics, pulmonology and lab services. Pediatric urgent care services are available Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. Weekend hours are noon to 11 p.m. For questions, please call (623) 972-KIDS (5437) or visit our web site at Here.
Keeping Your Family Safe I have sat at my desk a lot lately reading the many stories of children who have drowned, been ran over by a loved one, kidnapped, and all those horrific, every mothers worst nightmare types of stories. I know many of us think when we read these stories what we could , or what the other ?family? should have done to try and keep their little ones safe from harm. From accidents in the home, outside of the home, and unfortunate things we just cannot predict there are still many ways for us to practice ?safety? in general with our families. Below you will find some great tips and websites that help cater to keeping our families safe not matter what the emergency event.
In the home Our little ones can be awesome escape artists if we're not careful. If you have experienced one of these precious little busy bundles of joy you will know exactly what I mean. However just because we might not have an actively wanting to escape little one, doesn't mean it will never happen. Plus taking the following steps can help keep out things we don't want harming our family as well.
Make a nightly checklist Lock all doors, and windows. Think back did you open anything today? Are all keys put away to all vehicles and how easy are they to access. Did your child see you put away anything hazardous or open anything that is possibly dangerous for them to access? Are pool gates shut, locked? Alarms on? Alarms on vehicles? What medications are currently in your household, do they have child proof containers?
Also consider having a special shelf or cupboard that has snacks and drinks for your child/children. This can help avoid any accidents by climbing cupboards to reach foods and drinks while parents are asleep. Try a house-hold rule to not leave the bedrooms unless to the bathroom before a certain time. We try this to a 7am time in our house with our children while when they were younger we had to go with the ?when the sun is up? rule? it might not exactly be the idealistic thing to do even on a weekend, getting up early it can still mean your child is being supervised and therefore less likely to get in harms way.
While this seems like a tiresome routine its all common sense and can all lead to some sort of disaster. While we cannot keep our children in a ?bubble? we can at least do what we can within our means to keep them as safe as possible.
When you left the house, did you have any of the children following you, are you positive you saw them go back into the home, or are in plain view away from the vehicle?
Has your child been caught trying to leave the home without your knowledge? Is your toddler becoming a little too brave when it comes to being outside? Many home improvement stores like Lowes, and Home Depot carry small alarms that can be attached to any door or window, when the door, or window opens the alarm then goes off therefore alerting you. Another great alarm of course to mention is to keep up top date on your smoke alarms, and carbon monoxide alarms.
Do you take the same way to school every day? Predators can use this to their advantage, if you have the possibility, try using a different route to school, home, and various locations you often visit. Teach your children even at an early age what stranger danger is, the earlier they learn can be crucial as we can never predict these situations . Even if you go to the grocery store every Thursday can be used to a predators advantage!
Monthly or quarterly photos Did you change your child's hairstyle? Did they get glasses or contacts? Change hair color? These things are all reasons to update your child's photo in case of an emergency. Write down any new scars or breaks that may have happened and so forth.
These are just a few in MANY things we as parents can do to keep our children safe in our home at any age! Visit these websites below that also may assist you and/or give you ideas on how to keep your family safe!.
