September 30, 2007
September 29, 2007
According to a recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, children who are praised for being intelligent (as in “You’re so smart…”) are can become highly sensitive to failure, making them less likely to take risks and more likely to give up when faced with a difficult challenge.
So next time you feel like praising your child for their success, bite your tongue and say:
“Hey idiot, nice job. Clearly you just got lucky, but it’s better to be lucky than good.”
I kid, I kid…
Rather, the recommended course of action is to give your kids specific praise for their effort, strategy, etc. For example, when your child does especially well on a test, compliment their study habits rather than their intellect.
September 27, 2007
September 26, 2007
Just the other day, we finally gave up looking for Son #1’s lost retainer. Unfortunately, it looked like it was time to bite the bullet and pony up a wad of cash for a new one. I got on the phone with the orthodontist’s office to make the appointment. As I was funneled through their automatic call system, I decided to give our son’s room another quick look, even though he had already cased the joint on more than one occasion.
I rifled through his dresser-top menagerie of stuff… No retainer. Meanwhile, I kept pushing the appropriate buttons on the phone in hopes of soon hearing a human voice. I stuck my head under his bed to have a look around… Lo and behold, there was his retainer, just laying there in plain view! It had taken me a total of thirty seconds to find it! Grrrr! Apparently, searching for things is not our son’s forte. Imagine if I found the conspicuous retainer after we had bought a new one!
It’s strange the way things work out. This was similar to calling to check on a package that should have already arrived and having it coincidentally show up in the mail that very same day. Only this time, it was the magical re-appearance of a retainer while on the phone with an orthodontist. To all the people out there who’ve paid to replace a retainer… tsk, tsk. Now you know your treasure was only a (magic) phone call away.
Maybe this is the world’s luckiest retainer.
September 24, 2007
Our oldest son is turning 10 years old in just over a week. Given that he’s getting a bit older, we’ve decided that we’re not going to do a full-on birthday party with a ton of guests. Rather, we’re letting him invite a few kids over to spend the night. Actually, he’s inviting three boys over for the night, as well as a two other friends (who happen to be girls) for just the evening.
While we still haven’t hammered out all of the details, we’re planning on pizza and movies. He wants the evening to have a spy theme, so we’ll be working that in. My lovely and talented wife created Top Secret, “Mission: Impossible”-styled invitations, complete with the “Your mission, if you choose to accept it…” greeting, and the “This message will self-destruct…” warning at the end. We were originally thinking about putting together a spy-themed scavenger hunt of some sort, but will instead keep things simple by using spy-themed movies to give the evening its flavor.
As a sidenote, this will be our first time hosting a sleepover… Wish us luck — we probably have a lot more in our future.
September 23, 2007
September 21, 2007
Well, this is certainly a bummer… After nearly having nearly lost it on vacation this past summer, it appears that the world’s luckiest retainer has gone on the lam.
About a week ago we noticed that Son #1 was hadn’t put in his retainer at bedtime. As it turns out, he couldn’t find it — and neither could we. The frustrating thing is that we know it has to be somewhere in the house because he only wears it to bed. But we can’t find it anywhere. It’s starting to look like we might have to head to the orthodontist for a new one.
While these things aren’t made of gold (and who would ever buy a gold retainer necklace like the one in the picture?), they’ll still cost a pretty penny. In our case, a replacement will run somewhere in the neighborhood of $175… Ahh, the joys of parenthood.
[Photo Credit: Clint Chilcott]
September 20, 2007
As promised, here’s the third and final installment of my series on how to build an affordable double desk. So far I’ve laid out a list of supplies and talked about putting together and finishing the desktop. Today I’m going to talk about installing the desk. [more]
September 17, 2007
Our youngest son recently started preschool. He had a great time at the Open House where he met his teacher and played with the toys, all in the comforting presence of mom and dad. The first day of school was exciting for him. [more]
