MarriednParented | Podcast

How Dads Can Connect With Their Children: 0-3 Year OldsTo connect with 0-3 year old children, we need to get down on their level. Consider these options for doing that:How Dads Can Connect With Their Children: 4-6 Year OldsAs a parent, sometimes we long to kick up our feet toward the end of the day and relax. But often we’ll miss the chance to connect and work on relationship building if we don’t get on our feet and get involved with our kids, at least once a week. Each of our kids is different, so we may need to do a little searching to find what they enjoy best.How Dads Can Connect With Their Children: 7-12 Year OldsThis is where the challenge to connect becomes tougher — and we have less available hours to connect with them. The older they get, our kids will spend more time doing homework and focusing on independent activities. However, friends and culture play an increasingly larger role in influencing them — and not always in good ways. Therefore, it’s critical that we stay connected. How can we do that?

I have someone I know that had gone through a divorce.  I only know couples.  I don’t have friends that are divorced. They both knew where they were in life and great kids. There was no financial woes burdened them down. They’d just grown apart. They’d become more like roommates than committed partners. Now they were going their separate ways.Cruise controlNews like this forces us to take a good look at our marriage. We love each other, but sometimes we find it easier to focus on pressing needs – such as the numerous demands of kids, work and church – than on each other.Too often we put ourselves in cruise control, and this tendency, more than major problems, keeps us apart. When we’re in cruise control, we don’t actively seek to meet one another’s needs or communicate our own needs. Slowly, we drift in different directions.

IntroductionWho I am.  My walk in historyMy relationshipMy family5 ways to stay on the same teamOne of my wedding vows to my wife, Samantha , was that I would fight for her – not with her. We did pretty well with those vows for the first few years. And then we had kids.don’t think I’m blaming our children for our childish behaviours.

Welcome to episode 2: My wife & How we connect.With a list of questions, we get to know who is my wife, and how do we connect.How old are you?When did you know you wanted to marry me?When did you want kids?What do you think is going right in our relationship?Where would you like our relationship to be this time next year?Will you please marry me, all over again?I’d love to hear about your dreams for the futureHow are you doing health-wise?If you could change one thing about our priorities as a family, what would it be?What was your funnest subject in high school & which one did you dread? What is one attribute of your mother that you see in yourself? How did your mother and father meet? Who would you like to have a closer relationship with? What would you do with one week to do anything, all expenses paid? Would you rather be a painter, writer or musician?Do you think you are hard on yourself?Parenting questionsDo you share photos of your kids online?How good of a parent do you think you are?How good of a parent do you think your partner is?At what age is it appropriate for a kid to get a cell phone?Co-sleeping, yes or no?Kids and screen time?Have you ever caught yourself repeating something your parents said to you? How do you deal with picky eaters?