Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Akron police investigate teen mob attack on family
Woman, 75, charged with beating fawn to death
Akron woman found dead at Brimfield Township store
Man shot outside his Akron home during robbery attempt
Man shot in back near Akron park
Man admits repeatedly biting 2-year-old
Tragic day puts man on path to be Pinnacle owner
Blogs:
Pets:
Dogs' Bark: Not fair! Study shows pups get jealous
The Heldenfiles:
HTTP Error 403
Patrick McManamon:
More on Varejao
Akron Zips:
Opponent outlook: Kent State
Browns Bulletin:
Quick thought on Browns rookies
Tribe Matters:
Wedge challenges relievers
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth test showed marijuana
Kent State Sports:
Men's Basketball Scheduling update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Andy’s Signed According to ESPN
All Da King's Men:
Does Medicare Have Lower Administrative Costs ?
Blog of Mass Destruction:
CIA Did Mislead Congress
Akron Law Café:
Breaking Story: CIA Lied to Congress about Secret Program
Varsity Letters:
East basketball update
See Jane Style:
Oh Baby!
Car Chase:
Where do We Go from Here?
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Closings….Not the Good Kind!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Margy inquires-when is a Taste of Hudson?
Sound Check:
LeVert II live performance Saturday night — "Dedication" album due July 13,
HRLite House:
DDI One of Best Places to Work
Akron Gamer:
First 24 'Guitar Hero 5' songs announced
By John Rosemond
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
POSTED: 05:02 p.m. EDT, Sep 08, 2008
Q: We're having a discussion somewhat of a debate, actually in our church over when it's appropriate to allow children to sit with their parents during worship. What is your recommendation?
A: The folks in your church may be wasting their time and energy. This issue has nothing to do with age. A child should not be attending worship services (assuming they are not exuberant occasions) until he or she is able to sit reasonably still for an hour or more and pay reasonable attention.
Church is not where children should be disciplined. Rather, they should be disciplined before they come to church.
Q: My 7-year-old, Michelle, has a wonderful example in her 12-year-old sister, Emma. Emma is very helpful around the house. She even asks me if there's anything I need her to do. When I ask Michelle to do something, I get push-back. Is it too much to ask that she accept tasks cheerfully? My thought is that even if she doesn't feel eager, she should fake it. Am I expecting too much?
A: No, but you aren't going to be able to solve this problem within the status quo. Emma has obviously usurped all the responsibility in the family; therefore, Michelle feels she is entitled to be a slouch.
I would handle this by telling both kids, together, that because Emma has been so helpful for so long, she has earned a ''responsibility vacation'' for at least two weeks, maybe longer. During her older sister's hiatus, Michelle will do EVERYTHING, just as Emma did until Michelle came along, and she will continue to do EVERYTHING until she learns to do it with a reasonably good attitude (not cheerful, mind you, but without the current resistance). At that point, you will split household responsibilities 50/50 and put Emma back to work. In other words, Michelle will determine when Emma comes off holiday. I'll bet it will take only two weeks.
Great suggestions
Amanda, from Illinois, shares a great idea concerning night-time ''potty'' training. She writes: ''When my first daughter was daytime trained at 21 months, I took her diaper away completely, meaning she wet the bed at night. I've done this now with four kids, all day-trained before age 2. Two of them got it right away. One took a fairly long time, but I eventually figured out that she was cold, and warm jimmies fixed that. I'm on my fourth at the moment. In the last three days, she has peed the bed only twice between naps and nighttime. That's six trips to bed with only two accidents! You'd be surprised how one or two nights of sleeping in a puddle helps with self-control.''
Amanda's very helpful suggestion is consistent with two things I've been saying for years: first, the earlier daytime training takes place, the quicker nighttime training will occur. Second, a child learns not to wet the bed by wetting the bed. So, get those diapers off!
John Rosemond is a family psychologist. Questions of general interest may be sent to him at http://www.rosemond.com.
Q: We're having a discussion somewhat of a debate, actually in our church over when it's appropriate to allow children to sit with their parents during worship. What is your recommendation?
A: The folks in your church may be wasting their time and energy. This issue has nothing to do with age. A child should not be attending worship services (assuming they are not exuberant occasions) until he or she is able to sit reasonably still for an hour or more and pay reasonable attention.
Church is not where children should be disciplined. Rather, they should be disciplined before they come to church.
Q: My 7-year-old, Michelle, has a wonderful example in her 12-year-old sister, Emma. Emma is very helpful around the house. She even asks me if there's anything I need her to do. When I ask Michelle to do something, I get push-back. Is it too much to ask that she accept tasks cheerfully? My thought is that even if she doesn't feel eager, she should fake it. Am I expecting too much?
A: No, but you aren't going to be able to solve this problem within the status quo. Emma has obviously usurped all the responsibility in the family; therefore, Michelle feels she is entitled to be a slouch.
I would handle this by telling both kids, together, that because Emma has been so helpful for so long, she has earned a ''responsibility vacation'' for at least two weeks, maybe longer. During her older sister's hiatus, Michelle will do EVERYTHING, just as Emma did until Michelle came along, and she will continue to do EVERYTHING until she learns to do it with a reasonably good attitude (not cheerful, mind you, but without the current resistance). At that point, you will split household responsibilities 50/50 and put Emma back to work. In other words, Michelle will determine when Emma comes off holiday. I'll bet it will take only two weeks.
Great suggestions
Amanda, from Illinois, shares a great idea concerning night-time ''potty'' training. She writes: ''When my first daughter was daytime trained at 21 months, I took her diaper away completely, meaning she wet the bed at night. I've done this now with four kids, all day-trained before age 2. Two of them got it right away. One took a fairly long time, but I eventually figured out that she was cold, and warm jimmies fixed that. I'm on my fourth at the moment. In the last three days, she has peed the bed only twice between naps and nighttime. That's six trips to bed with only two accidents! You'd be surprised how one or two nights of sleeping in a puddle helps with self-control.''
Amanda's very helpful suggestion is consistent with two things I've been saying for years: first, the earlier daytime training takes place, the quicker nighttime training will occur. Second, a child learns not to wet the bed by wetting the bed. So, get those diapers off!
John Rosemond is a family psychologist. Questions of general interest may be sent to him at http://www.rosemond.com.

