Sunday, January 24, 2010

Screen Time Follow-Up

After reading my post on "Screen Time" I felt the need to post a follow-up. One thing we need to remember as we go through these Positive Discipline Parenting Tool Cards, is that perfection in parenting is unattainable. I really appreciated Amy's comment because it helps me to know that I am not alone in my struggles. The goal is to improve our parenting and hopefully improve our relationship with our children. The danger is that we will be so focused on perfection that we will alienate our children. A couple of times these past few weeks I've found myself expecting perfection from my children and my frustration with them has actually strained our relationship. So let's remember to focus on the long-term goal of improving our relationship with our children. As I focus this week on limiting screen time, I am going to replace that screen time with relationship building activities.

Here is an encouraging video I created to help me remember that all the time and effort it takes to be a parent is worth every minute!

6 comments:

HaynesBE said...

Now that was worthwhile screen time! Couldn't stop smiling. They are beautiful! Thank you.

Amy Bearce said...

What a precious video! Thanks for sharing! As I was reading your follow-up post, I thought, "Did my comment really reveal what a perfectionist I am or is he psychic?!" :) Thanks for the reminder that we can't be perfect and this is a journey that we take just one day at a time, doing the best we can and learning more each day.

Single Dad Brad said...

Thanks Beth and Amy...Life is always better with a Jack Johnson soundtrack! :-)

Unknown said...

Brad - love the video, and find it so encouraging!!! Doesn't hurt that you used one of my favorite songs! But seriously - it highlights the need to reflect on all the things that we are doing right and that are positive, rather than on where we feel deficient or the need to improve. So much more empowering to start from a place of encouragement! All the positives shine in your video - quite inspirational! I also appreciate you creating an encouraging video because, just like our children can benefit from encouragement, so can we as parents! I feel such a sense of joy, encouragement, and pride as I watch this - I can only imagine how you must feel as a dad!

Single Dad Brad said...

Thank you Sooooo much for that comment Lindsay. I was just thinking about that yesterday. In fact, I would argue that parents may even need more encouragement than their children. How can you be encouraging when you feel discouraged?

Jess said...

Great post. I find it so important to remember that its not about perfection, but about improving an creating more positive relations with our kids. Thanks for the reminder.