Lolli’s Guide to Savvy Parenting

I’ve been a mother now for over 13 years. If you count the time that I was pregnant with KitKat, my darling teenager, then we could just round up to 14. Fourteen years. Motherhood is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week job. If I’ve done my math correctly, I’ve clocked approximately 122,640 hours of parenting. No wonder I’m tired.

This is a silly picture I found on KitKat’s camera.

During those 122,640 hours, I’ve learned a thing or two about raising well adjusted, independent, happy kids. I’m far from perfect. Most days, I I don’t even know if I could consider myself “good” at this. Let’s just say that it’s easier to have brilliant ideas than to put them all into practice.

1. Read together regularly, even when they get “big.”
2. Teach your kids how to cook basic meals and treats as soon as they start school. Cooking is great practice for math, science, and reading.
3. Learn how to cut kids’ hair (and then start taking them in to the salon once they hit middle school)
4. Cut loose and act silly around your kids. They’ll respect you all the more for it (although they will most certainly give you funny looks in the mean time)
5. Volunteer in their classrooms whenever possible. Chaperone field trips.
6. Talk to other parents with kids your family’s age. You will be shocked (and comforted) to find that other people are dealing with the same issues.
7. Bribery is perfectly fine.
8. So is time out. There must be consequences.
9. There are certain things that are not negotiable–like wearing seat belts or using the big scissors. Be clear on those non-negotiables and don’t make exceptions. In other words, be consistent.
10. Tell your kids you love them and have some kind of physical contact everyday.

What have you learned in your years as a parent?

As I was making this “serious” list, I was totally imagining the things that would make it on to my “don’t do this” list. What would YOU add to that one?

Evenflo just launched a witty & humorous video series called the “SavvyParents Guide” on the Juice Box Jungle widget on my sidebar. The series was created to educate viewers about their new Evenflo Momentum 65 DLX Convertible Car Seat which has been designed with the highest safety standards in mind. The Momentum 65 DLX Convertible Car Seat, with features that help make safety, installation and use as easy as possible for parents. Evenflo and JuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this post.

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About Lolli

Lolli has written 3740 post in this blog.

I became a mom in 1996, and in 2005 I had my fifth. Yes, 5 kids. In 2007, this blog was born (my 6th baby that will never grow up) and I've been sharing recipes, photography tricks, parenting tips, and everything in between. (Formerly Better in Bulk)

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