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Tag: parenting

10 Ways to Make Easter More Fun

Author’s note: These are jokes. The author does not condone these ideas and has not actually tried any of them…that you know of.

Easter is one of those holidays that can be a lot of fun but often gets overshadowed by the other more exciting holidays like Christmas, Halloween, and Arbor Day.

Author’s note: These are jokes. The author does not condone these ideas and has not actually tried any of them…that you know of. This list will not hold up as evidence in a court of law [law_and_order_dun_dun.wav]

  • 1. Instead of an Easter Egg Hunt, go right to the source and have an Easter Bunny Hunt.
  • 2. Remind your kids of the true meaning of Easter by taking them to a graveyard and paying an actor to surprise them by popping out of a grave.

    • 3. Instead chocolate-filled eggs, eggs filled with hot chocolate. Very hot chocolate.

    4. An Easter Egg Hunt, but there’s only 1 egg, and the kids all have weapons.

    5. Video Game Easter Egg Hunt – Let the kids play popular videos games that have known “Easter eggs” hidden in the games. (OK this is actually a pretty rad idea)

    6. Regular Easter Egg Hunt but first….COCAINE.

    7. Decorate Easter Eggs…with the blood of your enemies.

    8. One of the Easter eggs is filled with bees.

    9. You tell them only one of the Easter eggs is filled with bees, but actually all of the Easter eggs are filled with bees.

    10. Some Easter eggs are covered in Vaseline. Some Easter eggs are covered in flypaper.

    So there you have it. You can’t go wrong these innovative ideas this Easter weekend. If you try any of these ideas please leave a comment letting me know how they went and remember I am not legally liable for what happens.

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    Top Secret Messages

    So whenever he showed resistance to practicing his sight words I’d say something like, “Oh that”s good. Because if you learn to read then you’ll be able to read all the secret messages I’ve been writing. And I DO NOT want you reading all my secrets.”

    Parker, our 6-year-old, is learning to read. Our older child, Chandler, was very motivated to learn when he was this age and by this time he already had a pretty strong reading game. He was one of the top readers in his Kindergarten class. Parker, isn’t resistant to learning to read, but he’s definitely not as motivated to work on it. It’s possible that this is partially due to the fact that Chandler had a lot more of our attention when he was 5 and 6 while with Parker we’ve had to split our focus a lot more.

    I decided I needed to come up with a new way to motivate Parker to practice his reading. The number one method I’ve found to get Parker to do anything has of course been, “Defy Daddy”. So whenever he showed resistance to practicing his sight words I’d say something like, “Oh that”s good. Because if you learn to read then you’ll be able to read all the secret messages I’ve been writing. And I DO NOT want you reading all my secrets.” This got him fired up for a little while. But only a little while. So I had to take it to the next level.

    Earlier this week I wrote on a piece of paper a message using only words from his “sight words” list from school. These are words he should already know how to read or is working on reading for his next lesson. The front of the folded paper said, “TOP SECRET…..not for Parker”. “Secret” is the only word I used that isn’t on his sight words list. The inside said, “I do not want you to see this. How did you find it? We do not like that you are a spy.”

    I left the message in the hallway for him in the morning. When I woke him up he was grumpy as usual. “Go away!” He said. I replied, “OK, that’s actually good because I lost my top secret message somewhere out here in the hallway. I don’t want you to find it. So please stay in bed until I find it.” (Yes And!) Then I left his room and from the hallway kept talking about how I couldn’t find the message and I was afraid Parker would find it. Then I went to take my shower.

    Sure enough this got Parker going and he got up and discovered the message. Big brother helped him read the word “secret” but had been instructed not to read the rest of the letter to him. It was Parker’s job to read it.

    When I came downstairs to breakfast Parker was all giggles. “I read your top secret message, DAD!” He was very proud of himself. That morning on the way to the bus he said, “Dad. Let’s do another secret message tomorrow. But this time let’s be on the same team and keep the message a secret from, Mommy.”

    This was huge. He wanted to be on MY team? That almost almost never happens. I was honored to be chosen. So the next night I wrote another message.

    The kind of message you wouldn’t want your mom to read.

    A very serious message, indeed. And of course, Parker loved it.

    I’ll continue sending top secret messages Parker and report back to you on our progress.

    Do you have any creative techniques for motivating your kids to learn? Share them in the comments! I’m desperate for comments!

    Shared Drawings

    My wife started an awesome activity in our house. Everybody starts with a sheet of paper and draws whatever they want for 1 minute. When the timer goes off, everyone passes their paper to the person next to them and then starts adding to the next paper whatever they want. There’s no “wrong” choices. After the drawings have been passed all the way around and have come back to where they started, we all take turns sharing how they turned out. We talk about how they started and what they became.

    It’s incredible to watch my kids create something great and then completely let go of their ownership over it. They enjoy seeing how their ideas change and grow. They listen and take interest in each other’s ideas. This is the complete opposite of how they can be when doing something like building legos together. It’s such a great muscle to continue building.

    I’ll film the next session we have so you can see how much fun it is. I’m hoping we make this a new family tradition.

    Make it a Game

    Nate, don’t forget to make everything a game with your kids. It can be so easy to feel like you need to “put your foot down” and be “firm” with them. But let’s remember how things went this morning.

    This is a reminder to myself that I need to read every day. You can read it too, but I’m the one who really needs it.

    Nate, don’t forget to make everything a game with your kids. It can be so easy to feel like you need to “put your foot down” and be “firm” with them. But let’s remember how things went this morning.

    You went to wake up your 6-year-old at the normal time so he can get ready for school. He’s doing this new thing where, even though he loves school, the first thing he does in the morning is rear his grumpy head and scream “I’M NOT GOING TO SCHOOL!” Last time this happened, you got mad at him for yelling at you and very firmly told him he WAS going to school. And even though you explained to him all the very logical reasons why he needed to get up and get dressed this very instant, none of that seemed to resonate with him. Weird, right?

    So this time, instead of “putting your foot down”, you just said, “OK. Well, I’m going to be roaming this hallway like a security guard. DO NOT let me catch you sneaking down to breakfast.” Then you walked to your room and about 10 seconds later you heard the pitter-patter of 6-year-old feet paired with a mischievous giggle as your kid ran down to breakfast.

    After breakfast your kiddo didn’t feel like going back upstairs to get dressed and brush his teeth. He just wanted to lounge on floor swaddled in blankets. To be fair, you felt the same way. Even though your first instinct was to once again “put your foot down” (why is your foot up so much?) and tell your kid to do what you and his mother have told him to do, you didn’t do that. Instead you said, “Well I’m gonna turn my back for 10 seconds and then turn back around and I better not catch you sneaking upstairs to get dressed.” And before you could count to 5 he was upstairs with a giggle.

    Then he came downstairs. It was crunch time. You really needed to get out the door to get the kids to the bus on time. The 6-year-old was distracted as usual. Instead of demanding that he focus and move faster, you simply asked, “Parker, how fast do you think you can get your socks and shoes on? I bet you can’t do it in 30 seconds.” And boom, his socks and shoes were on in 29 seconds flat.

    And Nate, remember the other day in the car when your boys were starting to argue? It wasn’t a full blown fight yet and instead of stopping them and lecturing them about being patient and kind and unselfish, you chose a different tactic. “Boys, keep having this argument, but you have to do it in your best British Robot accent. And GO!” Suddenly they were having a heated but hilarious debate that eventually ended in giggles.

    Nate, I want you to remember that while the idea of making everything a game can seem tiring or inefficient, in reality it’s much more exhausting to be constantly nagging your kids all the time. Your kids are much more resistant to being commanded than they are to being asked to play a game. And maybe you are worried that this approach is too soft and that your kids need to be more disciplined and just do what you tell them to do without playing a silly game. But I assure you there will still be plenty of time to teach them discipline. They’re still young and their brains will develop and be more capable of discipline as they grow up. But in the meantime, there’s no need to be constantly butting heads with them when the alternative is so much more fun for everyone involved.

    Also remember, they’re not always going to be in the mood to play your games. But if you can be alert and catch them before they get in that bad mood, you’ll be much more effective at getting them to do what’s needed. And everyone in the house will be happier.

    So remember Nate…whenever possible…make it a game.

    Improvising Answers – Let the Potties Hit the Floor

    You asked them questions, they gave you answers. Enjoy this episode of Improvising Answers titled, Let the Potties Hit the Floor.

    Thank you for all the wonderful questions you submitted. We hope you enjoy our answers. Leave more questions in the comments and we will answer them next time.

    Improvising Answers

    Years ago my kids and I started a thing where we’d take questions from the readers of Improvising Fatherhood and the boys would answer them. It was a lot of fun and we thought we’d do it every week. But we missed a few weeks. Here’s the first one we did. My heart melts watching this.

    The boys were 5 and 2 years old when we filmed this. They are now 9 and 6 years old. A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same. They’d love to answer more of your questions. They can be about life, relationship advice, what the boys like, or just about anything at all. Leave a comment with a question and we’ll film another “Improvising Answers” real soon!