I think it's hard to make a kid become a professional athlete. Even if they have all the talent, physical ability, if they don't have the drive it just isn't going to happen. Of course give your kids plenty of opportunities to play, but don't force them if they aren't in to it. I've seen a number of parents over the years be the driving force behind their kids playing some sport and it usually meant the kid was only doing it to make their parent happy, not a good strategy imo!
While we are likely to encourage our child to get involved in physical activity, including sports, and encouraging any passions that they have (be it music, ice skating, painting or whatever), we are not that likely to push any kind of professional level from our own agenda, any more than anyone would want to force a child into becoming a lawyer or a doctor.
These tips might be useful for when your baby suddenly turns into a stubborn little toddler. It's quite an adventure to see him/her develop a personality and free will.... but it can also drive you up the wall occasionally.
1) Don't fuss too much about food. At some point they will get very picky about it. Just keep serving healthy food. Even if they don't eat their veggies for a week.... they will pick it up again when their bodies need it. Many parents get all stressed about it, and start jumping through hoops to try and trick the little monster into eating the broccoli/peas/carrot/whatever.... but for a young child this just makes the whole "not eating" experiment more interesting and rewarding. The more you fuss, the harder it gets.
2) Distraction is every parent's most valuable trick. Is your toddlers screaming their lungs out and refusing to put on their pj's? Don't try to convince, bribe, or force him/her. Distract. Take a nearby doll and pretend that it can talk, or point at the lamp and say "ooooh, look at the lamp; which colour does it have?", or pretend to be a robot... After 10 seconds, they will have forgotten all about their anger, and you can put the pj's on with ease.
3) From quite a young age, toddlers are able to understand cause and effect. You can use that to make life a little easier. For example, my 2 year old daughter often doesn't want to wash her hands if I simply ask her to (she enjoys saying "no" to pretty much everything I say at the moment). So nowadays, I simply tell her that her washing hands needs to happen before daddy can serve food (note: I don't "punish" her... it's not even really my choice; I just explain to her that one thing is required before the other thing can happen; it's a universal law of life).
4) Routine. Kids love it. Decide with your partner on a set of routines, and everything will go much easier. For example, if the "going to bed" routine is always the same, it will be much easier for your child to calm down and fall asleep. But if it changes all the time, it makes him/her restless.
our younger daughter is left handed. not sure where we went wrong.
My daughter is left handed too, I'm having a hard time teaching her how to throw, bat, shoot a basketball etc. they do everything backwards. That's something that we m missing out on and it makes me sad. She's into the arts more than sports and I sometimes wonder if that's because I couldn't teach her stuff.
our younger daughter is left handed. not sure where we went wrong.
My daughter is left handed too, I'm having a hard time teaching her how to throw, bat, shoot a basketball etc. they do everything backwards. That's something that we m missing out on and it makes me sad. She's into the arts more than sports and I sometimes wonder if that's because I couldn't teach her stuff.
I believe, and this is potentially one of those apocryphal tales or alternate facts, that left handed = right brain dominant = tending to creative/imagination persuasion rather than logic.
our younger daughter is left handed. not sure where we went wrong.
My daughter is left handed too, I'm having a hard time teaching her how to throw, bat, shoot a basketball etc. they do everything backwards. That's something that we m missing out on and it makes me sad. She's into the arts more than sports and I sometimes wonder if that's because I couldn't teach her stuff.
I believe, and this is potentially one of those apocryphal tales or alternate facts, that left handed = right brain dominant = tending to creative/imagination persuasion rather than logic.
It is as you suspect, in that it is apocryphal. Right brain/left brain is not an actual thing. Its good as a shorthand for describing a artistic, creative type, but biologically it is not true.
LEft handed people being tools of Satan, now that is empirically true.
^^^Or do like I do with my kids and force them to watch the sales scenes from Wolf of Wall Street and Boiler Room on repeat for 5 hours a night. Freddy C is getting fucking paid.
Baby shower was yesterday. Wife is sufficiently plump and allowed people to touch her belly. We're at the business end now and hope to meet our little guy in just under 5 weeks (if everything goes to plan... I like to call him wriggles so there's a good chance he'll decide to come sooner!).
Just wanted to say thanks again to all who have contributed so far (and those to come). People kept asking me yesterday if I was nervous. I feel like I've been waiting for my family my entire life, and that is something that could be dangerous if I have a rigid vision in my mind, so I'm trying to take things as they come.
As I held my little lad a little tighter yesterday, and gave him some extra kisses following the events back home in the UK it made me even more determined to help him respect diversity and be tolerant of others as he grows up.
Far too much hate and fear in the world right now.
Wife and I painted and did the paneling ourselves! Pretty proud of it-- I can do small handy man type stuff-- sometime things normal size people can do-- but this is the biggest home improvement thing I've accomplished
Edit: how do you post pictures normally again? Someone told me but I forgot where
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Also, relevant:
Here's little baby Séamus
As I held my little lad a little tighter yesterday, and gave him some extra kisses following the events back home in the UK it made me even more determined to help him respect diversity and be tolerant of others as he grows up.
Far too much hate and fear in the world right now.