Training Kids - Part Three

As you may have noticed, I have been going on a bit about training my kids. The first few years were pretty successful, albeit unintentional in a lot of ways. Which is okay - often the most amazing discoveries are, well, discovered this way.

I have noticed over the last few years that my kids are becoming more and more resistant to the regular training methods.

Zen Parenting, Part II

Last time I spoke of how I trained my kids to burp on command without even knowing I did it. Kind of a Zen approach to parenting. My mom-in-law believed I did everything that way, but that's another story. Be that as it may, there are a few other training programs that have been very effective with the kids.

The best unintentional training was done one sunny morning on a day off.

Zen Approach to training kids...

We wish as parents that our kids will always respect us, listen to our hard won advice, do their chores quickly and on time. It all comes down to the training you give your children, passing on all your accumulated knowledge in a thoughtful, straightforward manner. Plans are made for baby prior to it's arrival, his/her development all charted out, starting from the first day baby arrives at home.

What a crock.

Trained by our pets...

I am always amazed at how well our family pets have trained us. It can be seen anytime people are walking their dogs, feeding the horses, grooming the cats. I'm not talking about the way we pick up after them on their walks or feed them when they push the food dish towards us. My kids have been doing that to me since birth, so it's a logical progression to keep doing that for our pets. Especially the clean up bit - from baby bottoms to the laundry. That will be another column one day. No, I'm talking about the times our pets get us to do things for them that we wouldn't even consider doing for the kids.

I'll recount an example.