Previous entry: 
Next entry:
Rabbi Shmuley rocks!
When Rabbi Shmuley Boteach befriended Michael Jackson a few years ago, I figured he was seeking publicity or was just too weird for my tastes.
But he has since ended the friendship and published 18 books on how to maintain healthy families. He also hosts the TLC show, "Shalom in the Home," and is about to start a radio show on XM's Oprah and Friends network. I covered his talk in West Palm Beach for the Sun-Sentinel yesterday.
Although he has said some weird things over the years, I thought his comments on Tuesday were sound and logical. He said kids need "quantity time," not quality time. Here are some other thought-provoking things he said.
1. Do not ever yell at your kids.
2. Love your kids for who they are, not what they do or don't do.
3. Never talk to your kids about grades or make them feel they must perform to be loved.
4. If you've hurt your children, apologize.
5. Never fight with your spouse in front of your kids.
Some of these items are almost impossible (How can we not encourage our kids to get good grades? How can we not have disagreements in front of the kids?) but I did see the value in having it as a goal.
Are you a Shmuley groupie?
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s...
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters...
Anne Vasquez is the Online Editor in charge of overseeing SunSentinel.com. She is the mother of a 5-year-old boy and a newborn daughter.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of two boys and a girl all under the age of seven.
Comments
Yes!
He is THE DUDE! Hard to believe The Nanny has her show on network, and he does not.
Posted by: Nick Sortal | January 15, 2008 1:31 PM
Do you watch his show? I had trouble finding it on my TLC schedule.
Posted by: Lois | January 15, 2008 1:43 PM
Five simple guidelines to a more peaceful home and a more grounded child!
Shalom, indeed!
Posted by: Dadof Two | January 16, 2008 10:01 AM
I agree that we should show ourselves as wrong sometimes and apologize to our kids when we hurt them. I also think it's a good idea to try very hard not to fight in front of your kids. The others I dont think have to be all or nothing. Never, never, does my son have to perform for me to love him. This doesn't, however, prevent me from having high expectations of him. I can say that there are things he is doing that i like or dislike. I will even tell him that I still love him the entire time he's doing these things. We haven't gotten to grades yet, but they will be important, based on how hard he's worked. If he works his butt off and gets a C, then that's ok with me.
Posted by: Amy | January 17, 2008 10:07 PM