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The Family Guy - Parenting From a Single
Dad's Perspective Author: Jay Bartels It was a hot summer day in august and The courthouse was without cold air. I wiped my brow as I entered the crowded courtroom. Several times I had appeared in family court, petitioning to get custody of my children. On each occasion I left the courtroom alone. The court had taken the girl's mothers rights away, but fighting through all the red tape had dragged on for two years. I did all I could to keep my faith. Then came that magical day. The girls were coming home with me! Wait a minute; the girls were coming home with me! Do they mean today? I fell to my knees, right there outside the courtroom. Fighting my tears of joy, I thanked god for the miracles he had blessed me with. I asked for his guidance. I asked him to help me be the best father I could be and told him I could not do it without him. Soon we were in the car and heading home. I glanced at them in the mirror, as they smiled ear to ear. They were my angels and I felt overwhelmed with joy, smiling all the way home. Has a man ever been so blessed as I was on that magical day? Now it was time to put my parenting skills into action. I put on the Super dad cape and transformed into The Family Guy. Right about this time Faith had just turned 8, and Elissa was 5. At first I let them eat what they want, bathe when they want, and go to sleep when they wanted. This wasn't working for me, so nice daddy had to set some rules and boundaries. The girls were soon given chores to help out around the house. They put up quite a resistance at first, but after they lost some of their privileges they quietly surrendered. Two years have passed and the three of us are very happy. I work from home so we get to spend a lot of time together. I love my role as The Family Guy. I am blessed to have such amazing girls who are so loving and giving. Sometimes they call me Mister Mom. Sometimes they just call me daddy, but my greatest happiness comes each night, hearing their precious voices call me to tuck them into bed. This Article was Written By: Jay Bartels Jay is a leader in the family benefits community. Faith and Elissa are Healthy, happy, and growing up a bit too fast for daddy. Please look for more from jay at the sites below, and his next article coming very soon. Teaching Your Kids To Like Football Being the Family guy requires a lot of tact and finesse. A lot! This next trick isn't an easy one, but boy if you can pull it off; you get the Family Guy award for sports recruiting. The most important tool to use is your kid's natural instincts to be competitive with each other. Get them to pick the team they like, even if it's just the color of the helmets, and then get them to pick their favorite player. Now we've given them their own team to root for. Keep plenty of sports caps and jerseys around the house, so when your favorite team is playing, you can all be sporting your teams awesome gear. In fact, right now my plan is going into action. My daughters are picking out their favorite Miami Hurricane caps, as well as adorning themselves with their favorite U.M shirts. I'm in good shape, and there's only 20 minutes to kickoff. I remind the kids one more time about the importance of this game, and they seem fired up. I'm doing it! My plan is in action. When your team scores, start high-fiving the kids. Get them screaming right along with you. Explain to them what just happened, using the instant replays as a visualization tool. Make sure they watch the replays a couple of times, so they can grasp the magnitude of what just took place. This is football! Grant it, they won't sit through the whole game with you, but they'll leave you alone; for fear of you trying to lure them back to the sofa, and then again be forced to participate in your frenzy. Whatever you do, don't let them take off their caps or jerseys during the course of the game. They should understand that they are the teams good luck charms, and we need them to help us to victory. Should for some reason your team lose, they should understand that it was you who didn't have your lucky shirt on, even if your sure that they were the ones responsible for the loss. So there you have it. A smart family guy knows he must have his children on his side. That's how you build a winning team. Your kids now love football, whether they like it or not. Best of luck this season, The Family Guy. Work At Home - Jay is a full time work at home single father of two lovely daughters. If you enjoyed this short article, then please visit Jay at his home site http://www.jaysplan.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
YOU CAN CONTACT ME AT BOCABOYJAY@AOL.COM
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This site was last updated 10/23/05
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