Dad’s Workbench: A Dad Blog

Girl Talk

Many parents have problems with their children talking to them. I have seen where parents think every thing is OK but their children are living in a completely hidden world. We see this everywhere not only in real life but also on TV and in movies. Is this just the way it is or is there something we as parents can do to help keep are children talking to us?

I have always been able to talk with my parents and I also know other parents who have open relationships with their children. So there must be something we as parents can do. As my daughter is only 3 months old I don’t have much experience but I thought I better find out what I need to do to start things off on the right track.

I was reading that at a young age you can teach your child the importance of communication and talking. It was specifically talking about father/daughter relationships. When your daughter interrupts you during a conversation you are having with another adult you must politely tell her not to interrupt and wait her turn. Then when your done talking you turn to hear and spend time talking to her. Even if she forgot what she was going to say and you don’t let others interrupt your conversation with her.

There was much more to what I read but that is what stood out most to me. Although my daughter mostly makes silly sounds and blows bubbles I have done my best to put this into practice. Everytime she tries to talk in her own language I turn to her and look her in the eyes. I talk back and try and let her know that she has my attention. I hope this will have at least some positive effect on her but if not then atleast maybe it is training me to give her my undivided attention.

Do You Twitter?

Anybody out there use twitter? I just resently joined. I don’t personally know very many people who use it but I know there are thousands of people signed up. If you read my blog and want to follow me with twitter my twitter username is twitter.com/orlund. Also leave me a comment with your twitter account and a little info about you so I can add you.

Thanks.

Shift Work Dinners

Dinner Time

For a while there was no such thing as family dinners for my wife and I. Family dinners have always played an important role in both of our lives. Having a new born meant that this was over for us. It seemed that just five minutes before dinner was ready to eat our baby Joy would some how know and begin to cry at the top of her lungs. No matter how early or late we decided to eat our little baby had to keep one of us occupied.

Eating for us became like shift work. One would quickly eat while the other took the baby for walks up and down the hallway. One of us would get a hot dinner and the other would get the cold left overs. Our dinner time talks were over.

If this is you or your about to have a baby don’t worry, this is just a stage and you’ll find a solution. For us it wasn’t long before our daughter began to enjoy sitting in her chair and watch us as we eat and talk. Her chair is one of those bouncy chairs that vibrates. We only let her sit there during dinner because we don’t want her to get bored of the chair. For nearly the last month it has been working perfectly with out fail.

As we sit down for dinner we all hold each others hands and thank God for our family, the day and for our food. Then our little family enjoys the nice hot dinner and the opportunity to hear about each others day. Even our girl tries to share about hers.