- Top Tips For Parents

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1. Editorial
2. Feature Article:
            Parenting Skills - Five Ways To Turbo-Boost Your Confidence
3. Laugh It Off!
4. Think About It!
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Greetings,

Grace and I have returned from a fantastic trip to Texas, and life is very
much back to normal now.

If you'd like to share the highlights of our trip and some of my comments
on what we saw and did, then check out my blog, 
http://www.frank-mcginty.com/weblog
and click on the link 'Notes From Texas' which you'll see in the right sidebar.

The trip was characterised by hospitality, courtesy, efficiency, and a bright,
sunny outlook on life.  Certainly not as I'd imagined life in Texas, so it came
as a pleasant and welcome surprise.

Our proposed trip down to New Orleans  - mentioned in a previous issue  -
was, understandably, not to be.  I did get the chance, however, to speak
to some of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and I was impressed by their
courage, resilience and sense of humour.

Many of them are being housed in local hotels, but others are doing the best
they can in sports stadia and other public buildings.

One rather alarming note: these evacuees are receiving funds from the
Government for up to a year to tide them over until they can find jobs,
houses, schools, and so on.

Yet some of the people I saw were clearly in a state of shock or trauma
and it's possible they won't have the strength to get their lives together in
such a relatively short space of time.

Let's hope and pray they receive all the help and assistance they need,
no matter how long it takes.  And if our experience of Texas hospitality is
anthing to go by, then they won't need to worry.

A Word About Spelling!

I mentioned last time that we had readers from all over the world, so I
hoped they wouldn't find my brand of 'Scottish' English too different.

Well, one good lady got in touch and said she HAD been rather surprised
by the amount of 'typos', but wondered if they had something to do with
my locality.

When I asked her for clarification, it turned out she hadn't realised that
here in the UK we spell some words differently. (Check out 'humour' above,
for example. Would you spell it 'humor'?)

I know, the American way is much more logical - 'center' is better than
'centre', surely! - but here we still keep our ties to European languages,
so there will be the occasional difference.

And A Word Of Thanks!

In a matter of a few months my website, www.frank-mcginty.com, has
roared up the Alexa ratings. (Alexa is the organisation that measures
website traffic and lists them in order. The mighty 'Yahoo!' is currently at
number 1, and Google is at number 18.)

My site has gone from 'No Data' at the beginning, which means it was down
among the many millions that are too numerous to list, to its current
position of 158,940.

Not quite up there with the big ones yet, but an amazing jump in a short
space of time!  :-)

Many thanks to all those who have made that happen.  If you
want to see what all the fuss is about, then pay a visit to
http://www.frank-mcginty.com

This improvement simply shows the interest people have in parenting.
You'll find solid advice to help you in what I  always say is the single,
most important task in our lives - raising our children. (But I mustn't
forget the young readers who check out the books on my website.
- Thanks to them, too!!)

And, As Promised . . .

In case you missed any previous issues, or just want to re-visit some,
they are now online:
http://www.frank-mcginty.com/ezine.html 

You can use the articles for any publication (e.g. an online project, or
a church newsletter), so long as you print them in their entirety and
include the writer's details and web link at the bottom.

My very best wishes!

Frank
http://www.frank-mcginty.com/for-parents.html

Parenting Skills - Five Ways To Turbo-Boost Your Confidence

(c) Frank McGinty  All Rights Reserved

The 'phone conversation had nothing at all to do with
parenting - but it made me think . . .

"Hello, Eastbank Football Club. Can I help you?"

"Good morning, may I speak with the Assistant Coach,
please?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. He's still on vacation."

"I see. Is anyone on the coaching staff there?"

"No, they're all away right now. The club's closed for
another week. I'm only the Groundsman."

"Well, thanks anyway. And hey, why say you're only the
Groundsman? If it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be a
football club. They'd have nowhere to play!"

(Pause) "Yeah, I'd never really thought of it like that.
(Laughter) Thanks a lot, pal, you've made my day!"

So often we do ourselves down, don't we? We devalue our own
contribution or service.

"I'm only a shop assistant!"

"I'm only a . . . " (fill in the blank!)
 
Sometimes we even hear women say: "I'm just a housewife"!

Confidence and self-esteem are often in short supply these
days. And nowhere more so than in PARENTING!

Even those who are superbly confident in their work or
social situations, often teeter on the edge when it comes to
their parenting skills.

Why?

Is it something to do with the breakdown in old-fashioned
values and concepts of authority; the widening gulf between
kids and their parents; the dangers we as parents are so
acutely aware of, but which are casually dismissed by our
kids?

Whatever the causes, there's a lot you can do to improve
things.

STEP 1
Dr Norman Vincent Peale, author of 'The Power Of Positive
Thinking', used to advise people to sit down and write
out a list of all their assets and abilities.

But Dr Peale's next suggestion is crucial. Once the list of
assets and abilities has been written, he tells us to raise
the stakes. Simply BELIEVE that you are AT THE VERY LEAST
10% better than you think. It's now widely acknowledged in
modern psychology that you'll still be way off the mark! So
have faith. You're better than you think.

STEP 2
Do some study. You probably weren't taught parenting skills
at school or college, yet parenting is the most vital
contribution to society. There are lots of books,
courses, tapes, CDs and videos on parenting. No excuses!
Grab some and get busy. Knowledge and insight bring
confidence. Whatever stage you're at, you can improve
yourself.

STEP 3
Learn to temper your reaction in stressful parenting
situations. Easier said than done! But you can make a
conscious effort to stay calm and remind yourself of
Dr Peale's advice (You're more capable than you think you
are!), and you can put into practice what you've been
studying about family dynamics.

STEP 4
Develop  yourself in some way. Yes, remember those piano
lessons you once took, or that art class you attended?
Interests like these are great stress relievers and they
build self-confidence - which is vital for parenting. If
you feel you're already confident in other matters, but
it's only in parenting you feel a lack, why not take up
some activity with your kids? Learning together brings you
together, and can be great fun!

STEP 5
Finally, resist any temptation to go it alone. Nature
intended us to be social creatures. Seek advice from
grandparents, relatives, friends. Overcome your pride.
Discuss your parenting challenges with others and draw on
the communal strength. And d'you know what? You'll find
you're not alone. Let's work on parenting together, as a
community.

Confident parents raise confident kids.

So take action now. If you do nothing, you can look
forward to more of the same worry, tension, ill-feeling,
and so on.

Let's zap these negative trends once and for all.

Happy parenting!

If you want to develop your parenting skills and encourage your kids
to be all they can be, why not invest in my e-book?

THE P.E.A.C.E. FORMULA: SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL PARENTING

More details on my web pages,
http://www.frank-mcginty.com/peace-formula.html  AND
http://www.frank-mcginty.com/for-parents.html

The 'Mothers' Advice' snippets seem to have gone down well
in the last issue  - so here are a few more for you to enjoy!

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S MOTHER: "The stovepipe hat again, Abe?
Can't you just wear a baseball cap like the other kids?"

MARY'S MOTHER: "I'm not upset that your lamb followed you
to school, Mary, but I would like to know how he got a better
grade than you."

BATMAN'S MOTHER: "It's a nice car, Bruce, but do you
realize how much the insurance is going to be?"

LITTLE MISS MUFFET'S MOTHER: "Well, all I've got to say is
if you don't get off your tuffet and start cleaning your room,
there'll be a lot more spiders around here!"

JONAH'S MOTHER: "That's a nice story, but now tell me
where you've really been for the last three days."

SUPERMAN'S MOTHER: "Clark, your father and I have
discussed it, and we've decided you can have your own
telephone line. Now will you quit spending so much time in all
those phone booths?"

THOMAS EDISON'S MOTHER: "Of course I'm proud that you
invented the electric light bulb, Thomas. Now turn off that light
and get to bed!

Smile at each other; smile at your wife, smile at your husband,
smile at your children, smile at everyone, it doesn't matter who
it is. And that will help you to grow up in greater love for each
other.

--- Mother Teresa Of Calcutta

Always Another Chance! - Top Tips For Parents
© Copyright 2005, Frank McGinty, except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. All contents provided as is.
 
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