Parenting Tips-Be Lazy

"Words of wisdom: 'How to begin to educate a child. First rule: leave him alone. Second rule: leave him alone. Third rule: leave him alone' "

Being a parent is exhausting. Kids have a never ending amount of energy. Before I had kids I used to be out almost every night with friends whooping it up. Now when 9:00 rolls around and we finally get the kids to bed, I barely have enough energy to lift a beer.

I'm constantly trying to find easier ways to parent. It can't really be this hard can it? Is this how our grandparents did it? I don't think so. I don't think they freaked out about every little detail of the day. Nowadays we have to worry about lead paint, cutting up hot dogs and grapes (don't want to choke), car seats (I hate car seats, my mom used to just throw me in the front seat of the Duster and hope for the best), getting into a good pre-school, home schooling (what? now I have to educate them at home because the school system in this country sucks?). We are constantly on the go and it's so hard to relax because you are constantly bombarded with another reason to worry.

Well I came across a brilliant parenting technique that is just my style-BE LAZY! LEAVE THEM ALONE! What do you mean be lazy? That's crazy, madness. That goes against anything and everything we are taught today in America about being a parent. We are told we need to constantly monitor every move our children make and be sure they are constantly entertained and stimulated. Well guess what, that is a load of crap. Well at least according to this article which I think is a stroke of genius. The theory is if you leave your children alone, they will learn to entertain themselves. It will also give you more time to strengthen the bond between the parents if they aren't constantly doting over every move their kids make. Wow, such a simple concept, why didn't I think of that? I could've been sitting on my ass this whole time and my kids would've been better off for it and I'd have a better relationship. The path of least resistance could be the answer.

Well I thought this was just a fantastic idea, so I decided to give it a try. I'm not sure how long it will take for this technique to have an effect, it doesn't seem to be working very well yet. But I'm willing to try as long as it takes. If there's one thing I'm good at it's sitting on my ass. It's actually one of my favorite things to do, so this will work out perfect. Almost all last night I tried to let my kids play on their own to see what would happen. Most of the night was spent with them bouncing on my lap saying "daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy" (that goes on for about 15 minutes) "come play with us" "we're bored" "read me a book daddy" "let me watch a movie daddy" Then my son started doing swan dives into my lap to make sure he was getting my attention while my daughter pulled Anna's hair. After this went on for a while, they actually did start to play by themselves. So maybe this whole lazy thing is going to work. Please God, let the lazy thing work.

Maybe dreams do come true! Happy parenting!
peace:-)