How to be a hero......

What a wonderful list.........


Your Child's HeroBy Chick Moorman and Thomas Haller
and exerpt from ezine:

Who would your child write about if given this assignment? Do you wish he or she would write about you? It could happen. Especially if your actions today are heroic, if you behave like a hero in front of your children. Listed below are several ways to be a hero to your children. Add them to your repertoire of heroic actions. Do it as a Father’s Day gift to yourself. You deserve it and so do your children.

1.) Be the good Samaritan. Stop to help a stranded motorist. Rake the leaves for an elderly couple. Bake cookies for the nursing home residents. Allow your children to help and to witness a caring father in action.
2.) Be approachable. Tell your teens that the front porch light is a signal. When the light is on, it means you are available to talk, even if you are asleep. Tell the little ones that your easy chair is your listening chair. If they ever have a concern, question, or frustration, they can ask to sit in the listening chair with their father. Follow through.
3.) Attend sporting events, concerts, and school activities. Be visible in the stands when your child participates. If she can see you, she knows you can see her. Demonstrate good sportsmanship and appropriate manners.
4.) Search for solutions. Focus on problem solving with your children. Minimize blame and punishment. Focus on finding solutions instead. Give your children a model of a father who cares about finding ways to fix things rather than making people pay for their errors.
5.) Hold your children accountable. Holding your children accountable for their actions and choices is one of the most loving things you can do as a father. If you don’t hold your children accountable, someone else might have to.
6.) Be consistent. It’s not the severity of a consequence that has the impact. It’s the certainty. The kiss of death for any discipline system is inconsistency. Hold your children accountable for their actions with an open heart and do it with consistency.
7.) Take their suggestions seriously. Your children have ideas about what to do on your next vacation. They have certain places they like to eat. They have ideas on how to spend entertainment money. It is not necessary to use all their suggestions. It is necessary to hear them all, think about them, and give them serious consideration.
8.) Teach. Teach your child to hit a baseball, ride a bike, and use a fork appropriately. Resist the effort to outsource important learning to other groups and individuals. Teach your child to care for pets, treat all living things with respect, and appreciate nature. Model exactly how loving and compassionate a strong man can be.
9.) Invest in experiences rather than things. Your child does not need a brand new $400 sandbox with a swing set attached that comes preassembled. He needs the experience of going out in the backyard with his father and building a sandbox together. One more new toy is not necessary. What is needed is the experience of taking a trip to the lake, to the library, or to a rodeo.
10.) Make charity visible. Let your children see your trips to the Red Cross to give blood. Let them participate in deciding how to spend the money in the family charity jar. Let them help pick out the coat that goes to the Coats for Kids program. Allow them to put the money in the church plate as it is passed down the pew.
Want to be a hero in your child’s life? Add some of these ideas to your toolbox of parenting strategies. Someday you just might discover your child’s writing assignment entitled, “My Father, My Hero.”

Chick Moorman and Thomas Haller are the authors of The 10 Commitments: Parenting with Purpose. They are two of the world's foremost authorities on raising responsible, caring, confident children. They publish a free monthly e-zine for parents. To sign up for it or obtain more information about how they can help you or your group meet your parenting needs, visit their website today: http://www.personalpowerpress.com
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