2012 August

Fathers Day Questions & a giveaway

August 31, 2012 By Martine 15 Comments

Last year on Fathers Day I asked my 3 older boys some interview questions about their dad. It was interesting to see the things they noticed, the things they loved, the things he could improve on and the things he liked to do. I thought I would see if much had changed over the past year and interviewed the boys again with the same questions. This year I was able to add the 3 year old as his articulation is one thing that has certainly developed over the past 12 months.

What makes your dad a great dad?

12 yr old: I just love him. Once a year he takes me to the wrestling. He takes me to footy matches. I’m sure there is more but my brain has worked too hard today 2011: He buys us stuff from Seven Eleven and he hangs out with us a lot

10 year old: he buys stuff for me and plays with me and spends a lot of time with me (2011:He gives us Slurpees and is renovating our house and takes holidays with us and spends lots of time playing with us)

9 year old: he takes me to places. He’s nice. He’s funny. He looks after us (2011: He’s good at looking after us)

3 year old: cause he is

What do you love to do with your dad?

12 year old: Going to the chicken shop for chicken and chips (2011: Play footy and cricket with him and having talks)

10 year old: kick the footy, play cricket, go swimming, watches footy with me. He does heaps more I just can’t remember (2011: Play footy with us, take us to the local footy and swim in the pool with us)

9 year old: kick a footy, take us to the footy, I love watching Amazing Race with him, him watching me play footy (8 yr old: Go to the local footy, play footy, golf and ten pin bowling)

3 year old: play cricket, running, footy, cars and hockey

What could your dad improve on?

12 year old: get less angry with us. That’s about it really (2011: Ummm…lets see…I don’t really want to answer that…umm…nope there’s actually nothing)

10 year old: growling at me without knowing who’s fault it was (2011: Nothing…really)

9 year old: I don’t know (2011: I don’t know)

3 year old: I don’t know

Do you know your dads favourite TV show?

12 yr old: footy (2011: the footy)

10 year old: his movie he is making with his friends (2011: Entourage)

9 year old: Amazing Race (2011: Amazing Race and Survivor)

3 year old: Toy Story

What is dads favourite food?

12 year old: KFC (2011: Chicken Parmigana)

10 year old: tacos (2011: Tacos)

9 year old: Salt and vinegar chips (2011: Beer, lollies, hot jam donuts)

3 year old: Nutri grain

What’s something funny your dad does?

12 year old: when dad wrestles us, especially Louie (2011: When the two of us blame mum for our farts)

10 year old: when Tigers play bad he sometimes goes off his head a bit which is pretty funny (2011: When he tries to sing)

9 year old: Tells us funny stories, scares me (2011: When he creeps up and scares me)

3 year old: he laughs when I play running

So not a lot has changed it seems. He still likes footy and is great at playing sports with them. He likes Tacos and the Amazing Race. Apparently he likes Nutri Grain although I myself have never seen him eat a bowl of it. He possibly is not buying as many Slurpees and a couple of children may have got in trouble a little more this past year! But on the whole they know they have the best dad ever.

What makes your kids dad great? Or what is special about your own dad?

Leave a comment, like my Facebook page and you could win a copy of the DVD “Beaconsfield” to give to your dad as a little late Fathers Day present! If you haven’t seen the movie, it is a great portrayal of the events with some amazing performances by a fabulous cast. Here is a link to the trailer. Beaconsfield Movie Trailer

Competition closes 5pm aest September 5th

Filed Under: Modern Parenting Tagged With: connecting, family, fathers, fathers day, Parenting, Remembering

Some words to live by from Anne Shirley: Honesty, imagination and a kindred spirit

August 27, 2012 By Martine 17 Comments

The other day I was ~~researching~~ ~~searching~~ being distracted by the internet when I came across a gorgeous quote from the ever so wise Anne of Green Gables.

“Today is always fresh with no mistakes in it yet”

I love these words and on more than one occasion have used this outlook when stress, grief or everyday challenges threaten to overwhelm. Whether it be mistakes of our own doing, the mistake of others or situations beyond our control, it certainly helps to think of tomorrow as a clean slate.

I fondly remember reading these books and later watching the series on television. Anne’s imagination, her reference to ones “kindred spirit”, her gregarious nature and forthright honesty makes her one of my most favourite fictional characters. I decided to share some more pearls of wisdom with you here. Her passionate love of language and the written word, her creative outlook her loyalty and her wit and wisdom ensures we could all learn something from the very spirited Anne of Green Gables. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Modern Parenting, More Joy Less Stress Tagged With: books, Grief, honesty, lessons, Remembering, stress

Overparenting or a sign of the times? Why we need to educate and be educated

August 21, 2012 By Martine 14 Comments

Is our use of parenting books, blogs, parent educators, forums and parenting seminars an indication we are overparenting or a sign of the times?

I started pondering this question, after receiving a comment that we are helping our kids too much by insisting they sign internet contracts and that we should instead be trying to instil accountability in our children in order for them to make the right choices.

I wholeheartedly agree that we need to give our kids responsibility and build their independence. I have often advocated for kids to do more, for us to allow them to fail and fall, for us to let them take risks and use their own judgement. I have also advocated for parenting with some basic principals based on unconditional love, boundaries and security.

And I will always believe that these are the foundations for my own parenting and for any advice I give to others. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Communicating and Connecting, Modern Parenting, Technology and Parenting Tagged With: advice, internet, Parenting, technology

CyberSafe 247: smart modem to keep our kids safe

August 12, 2012 By Martine 62 Comments

Keeping our kids safe online and keeping an eye on everything they are doing is something that is obviously a major challenge for parents today. I myself have 5 children in my family and enough devices to ensure that each of them could be connected online at any one time. Between the xbox, an ipod touch, an iPhone, a laptop, computer or ipad, all these devices have the ability to connect to our home wifi and hence have the ability to expose our kids to all manner of content online. To keep an eye on every one of them every moment they are online, is something that is simply not possible.

I started looking for some software and security that would at least ensure that whilst my kids were at home I could be confident in knowing that they were not being exposed to anything that wasn’t fit for their eyes. Unfortunately nothing was available that would cover all our home devices, including the mobile ones and it instead requiring a number of different systems, softwares and downloads to put in place to ensure every device was covered.

I don’t usually endorse many products on my blog, but this one is one that is not only clearly relevant but it is one I am really excited about, and goes a long way to helping keep our kids safe online. It is one that ticked all the boxes and more.

Cybersafe 24/7 is basically a wifi modem that has replaced our old internet modem. What I can now do is see every single website that has been visited by every single device in my household. I know when it was visited and for how long and by whom.

Here are just some of the things I can now do from my administration page:

See every website visited by household or narrow it down to each individual device. For example I can see exactly what has been looked at on “Ollie’s Ipad” or on “Mums laptop” or on “Charlies iPod” or the xbox or Wii. Not only does this help us know what our kids are looking at but it helps us bring up important discussions that may need to happen about what our kids are searching for online.

I can block all sorts of information from ever being seen by any device in the household or I can block it from each individual device. For example I have set up a profile that I have called ‘kids profile”. On this profile I have applied it to all the kids devices and now means they cannot view anything online that contains pornography, adult entertainment, gambling, dating sites, drugs, cigarette and alcohol and basically anything I don’t want them to see or access. It can easily be changed and altered at anytime.

I can block the use of social media or (shopping for me) from any or all of the devices but I can also allow them to be used for certain periods during the day. This is one of the greatest ways to help parents keep their kids off Facebook and the like when they say they are doing work. I can determine the hours that any site is allowed. Any time outside those hour,s the site is simply blocked.

Whilst this does not replace the teaching of skills to engage in the online world safely, it does give us peace of mind about what is being viewed. Once something is seen it can’t be unseen and this is one of the most distressing things for any parent when they realize what their kids have been exposed to. Alarmingly the average age that children view pornography online is eleven. And for the majority of kids it actually happens at home on their home computers and devices.

I am openly endorsing this product as I have been using it for over a month and I am so impressed. No it doesn’t help our kids when they are at friends or out in the world, but it certainly gives me peace of mind that they are safely enjoying the online world when they are at home.

This product retails for $249 which is about the price of any wifi modem that you would buy that does nothing else but connect you online. If you want more information click on the banner ad to be directed to their website.

If you mention The Modern Parent they will happily give you a 30 day free trial!

Competition closes Monday 20th August 5pm . Only open to Australian residents.

Filed Under: Modern Parenting, More Joy Less Stress, Product Review, Technology and Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: internet, online, safety, technology, teenagers

An Internet Contract for families: teaching our kids to play safe

August 6, 2012 By Martine 21 Comments

As our kids are beginning to interact online and use the internet at an increasingly younger age, it becomes imperative that we as parents manage this use by focusing primarily on their safety. In my house we have decided to have our children sign an internet contract to ensure that they are not only are prepared to follow some simple rules, but that they fully understand the possible dangers and pitfalls of using such a powerful medium. Our children whilst technically savvy, do not always have the maturity to match, and hence we need to be constantly educating them about the many aspects of repsonabile online use. Having a contract not only makes them accountable for what they are doing online, but it helps us bring up some of the issues they may not have previously considered. It is important that you all know that these points are fully understood before you sign away. Usually I would see something like contracts as too formal for my family, however in this instance I believe it a great tool in starting up the conversations and making our kids accountable. It is not so much about the punishments and the contract as such, but more about having our kids recognise the importance of being aware of these issues to ensure they are able to make appropriate and safe choices for their online interactions.

Please feel free to print out and use for your family