Top 10 Tuesday!

The Top 10 Things....


.... That will NOT kill your kids.

1. Germs (aka there is absolutely no NEED to carry 18 miniature bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere you go and then proceed to use them every 42 seconds)

2. Saying Please and Thank You (this should be a given, and sadly it's not)

3. Dirt (kind of goes along with the germs thing, but it's different... because it's dirt. Let them get dirty. That's why we have current fancy technology called a washer & dryer)

4. Free Time (kids tend to like it, parents tend to hate it, thus the fact that most kids today can't fit their resume onto one page... and they're 10 years old. Stop forcing 14 musical instruments, 5 foreign languages, and every camp known to mankind on your child - they'll be fine without learning how to basket weave while playing the oboe... I promise.)

5. Responsibility (teach it, practice it, stop catering to them)

6. You Following Through (when you tell them that if they don't "stop it right now or we'll leave this store" PLEASE LEAVE THE STORE. Seriously. Those of us without kids are totally willing to carry your child outside FOR YOU. It takes a village... right?)

7. A bedroom with a bed, dresser, and mirror (Notice I left out TV, Xbox, Wii, computer, etc. The bedroom should not be your child's very own Chuck-e-Cheese, which is great because then you won't have to deal with the police and more-common-than-not domestic disputes that tend to consume that 'ol Mouse's habitat.)

8. A spanking as an immediate punishment. (Notice I did not say a beating. But for serious and immediate consequences, a spanking works. Sometimes "time out" is not effective. FYI - also not effective? Threatening to spank. And then not doing it. Or not doing any kind of punishment. Refer to #6 if you're confused.)

9. Doing things They don't want to do. ('nough said.)

10. Understanding that Parents are People, too. (Please, Please... whatever you do. Teach your children that YOU still have a life. You have friends, who like to have conversations with you... without being interrupted 82 times. This goes back to the "Please & Thank You" manners conversation... "excuse me" is a wonderful lesson!)