“Recent research has shown that the UK is one of the worst places in the western world to be a child.” -Bob Reitemeier, chief executive of The Children’s Society

Ouch. The reason is because kids are losing opportunities to play, especially outside, and that loss can be detrimental to their health, according to some 300 experts.

It seems my wife was right. When she worked at a pre-school she always insisted the kids go outside every day (unless the weather was dangerous), much to the consternation of concerned parents who thought it was too cold or too hot or too whatever for their poor child. What their poor child really needed was to go outside more.

I wonder if the same could be true for adults?

Hey Lexi, want to go outside?

When I talked about my daughter yesterday I neglected to mention one of my favorite things (and I have a feeling this a common component of parenthood: being so busy you forget basic things).

On Sunday mornings when we go up to the front of the church for communion (yeah, those wacky Episcopalians) I love watching Lexi receive a blessing from the priest. When kids are too young to take communion the priest lays a hand on the child and says a simple blessing.

It’s become familiar to Lexi now and she watches expectantly as John (our rector) gives bread to mom and then bends down to place his hand on Lexi’s head. She grins and looks up, sticking her mouth out in this goofy, hamming-it-up sort of expression. And John says a blessing, usually something about “May the Lord shine his face upon you,” and right there in Lexi’s grin is God shining on her. I love that.

I haven’t had a good Lexi blog in a while. So here we go…

Lately I’m amazed at the sudden developmental growth my daughter is going through. A couple Sundays back she started wandering around church after the service like she’d never done before. She no longer needed to have mom and dad in sight at all times and she was perfectly happy saying hi to total strangers. It was the strange moment where she suddenly had confidence in her walking ability and in whatever it is that makes kids not need their parents for every waking moment and it suddenly clicked.

We stayed later than usual just watching her wander.

Continue reading She’s Not a Baby Anymore →

We’ve been in the house for a week and now spring break and vacation (and I use that word lightly) are over and it’s back to normal. Or at least finding a new normal in a new house. And apparently that means Lexi walking by herself down the hallway to her room after lunch, starting up her Veggie Tales CD (for the fourth time today), closing the door and playing by herself. When I caught up to her she was sitting in the middle of the floor flipping through books and dancing to Bob and Larry.

It’s time for some more Lexi videos (I’m not sure if I’ve decided between Vimeo and YouTube yet, but I’ve got more up on Vimeo, so I’m going with it for now).

FrankenLexi | Lexi in the Cupboard

Lexi Rocks | Dancing Lexi

Peek-a-Boo | Pushing Speak’s Kennel

I’m not a big fan of parenting advice. There are so many theories and ideas and ways to do it that if you change your style with every article or book you read you’ll be schizophrenic. Plus my wife is practically a specialist in child behavior, so I just ask her (plus she explains why something works, which helps me so much more than ‘just do this’).

But despite my tendency to ignore parenting articles, I found this article in the New York Magazine, How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The Inverse Power of Praise, incredibly fascinating (well-written and insightful!). It basically says that heaping general praise on your kids can do more harm than good. Kids who are told they’re smart end up relying on their sense of how intelligent they are instead on their ability to try. On the flip side, kids who are praised for their effort learn to keep trying and that effort trumps intelligence.

Continue reading Praise Kids’ Effort, Not Intelligence →

Of course my daughter is incredibly cute. Here’s some cinematic proof:

Lexi blows kisses and combs her hair.

A friend linked to an article from the Wall Street Journal a few years ago about how to teach your kids about money. Dave titled his entry ‘Smarter Parents Than Mine,’ but I think the more apt title might be Richer Parents Than Mine.

The author lists the cash he’s giving to each of his two kids:

• $25,000 to start a retirement fund.
• $5,000 upon graduation.
• Free under-grad (they’re on their own for grad school)
• $20,000 for a house down payment
• $5,000 for a wedding (or cash if they choose to elope)

That’s about $100,000 each, depending on where you go to college. Wow. Lexi better not be counting on $100,000 from us. And I was proud of myself for starting a $250 mutual fund for her birthday (with some help from her grandparents).