Purposeful Parenting

Going for Broke

We all want was is best for our kids but what does purposeful parenting look like in practice?

Follow the creator of Anton’s Antics’ as he negotiates the challenges of being a parent.

“The blog's slogan started off as a joke between my wife and I, as it can be tough making ends meet and parenting is not easy. I want to hear Jesus say ‘well done, good and faithful servant’ with what He has entrusted to me. We have to go for broke don’t we?

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Is homework good for primary school kids?

Details: Created: Monday, 02 November 2015 10:17

Hey did you know there are parents out there who say ‘no’ to their primary kids doing homework!
I mean, can we really do that? Could I have said that? I wish I had. It certainly crossed my mind a few times. Homework, families and primary school kids has been a hot topic recently in mainstream newsprint. One article below from the Sydney Morning Herald is both shocking and unsurprising at the same time; we kind of new homework for kids didn’t achieve anything as we banged our heads on the dining table way past their bedtime each night.

Check it out:"Most researchers conclude that for primary students, there is no evidence that homework lifts academic performance"...

When should parents allow their kids to use social media?

Details: Created: Thursday, 29 October 2015 18:00

Daughter: So dad when can I have Instagram? It is just photo sharing.
Dad: Yeah, photo sharing of people’s butts! (eye roll from eldest child)

OK this is not about whether to give your child a mobile phone or not. Contrary it seems to almost every other parent, we’re ostracizing our kids with the no mobile phone plan. But that hasn’t stopped their efforts to subvert our decision by finding alternatives through other electronic devices. So now we’re being asked for Instagram on an IPod.
If I cave in to one form of social media why not cave in to the lot? Why not give them a phone and let the world have it’s way with my kids?

How do you protect your child once they are on social media from all its disadvantages…in fact I can’t really think of too many advantages.
Oh, yes they’ll feel excluded if they don’t share the screen fixation that prevails in high schools. They’ll be left out of all the social interaction that is now done online and part of the playground…the virtual playground that is, as no-one it seems is actually doing any physical play anymore. Just sitting and pecking away with both thumbs between classes.

What it means to be teaching your child responsibility

Details: Created: Wednesday, 21 October 2015 18:24

Did you catch the episode of Ramsay’s Hotel Hell where he was faced with giving up and shutting down a hotel run by completely deluded and incompetent pair of sisters in the US?

I couldn’t believe he persevered, I guess there’s no TV show if he can’t turn it around. But these two sisters were spoilt little princesses, aged 27 and 32! After begging their father to buy this heritage hotel and only 6 weeks from taking over the business, the eldest took a break to 'find herself'; only it went on for 3 months. The other sister stayed on with her mum and dad helping, but didn’t rise till 3 pm each day. Mum and dad had left their house to help out, but were now cooking the girl’s dinner every night like they were primary kids. Needless to say the hotel was in total disarray and the most likely solution was to close and sell it.

The show raised the question of the importance of teaching your kids responsibility. The book of Proverbs in the Bible begins with about 9 chapters where a father is teaching his son discipline, self control and the path that will protect him from harm. It could easily apply to a mother and daughter relationship too. Wisdom, the book reiterates several times, begins with the fear of the LORD. Reverence to God, his order, his moral code and making decisions within that framework leads to a profitable life.

Should parents buy pink or blue?

Details: Created: Friday, 16 October 2015 16:21

gender neutrality parenting Is it nature or nurture? Do boys naturally play with soldiers but girls prefer dolls? Or is it culture and successive ignorant generations of parents that foist the colour and toy preferences on their kids?

Does anyone else feel like the family is under attack at the moment?

Marriage isn’t the natural right of heterosexual unions but anyone regardless of gender or preference of sexual orientation. As parents we are being asked to encourage gender neutrality in the way we bring up our girls or boys.

I’ve already tried this little experiment and I encourage you to do so if you have the opportunity. It is this: put your child in a room with a pink toy and a dark blue one, see which one they go for. Take them to the shops and see what clothes they gravitate to. Give them a car or train and some soldiers plus a dolly and a potty and see what holds their attention most.

How our drinking habits might be discouraging our kids

Details: Created: Thursday, 01 October 2015 18:11

parents' alcohol consumption affects kids “The bulk of Australia’s alcohol challenge is in your mum and dad’s house behind closed doors”, The Sun Herald, August 23rd, 2015 page 17.
I was surprised to read in one of Sunday’s papers recently an article suggesting that younger employees these days tend not to stick around and drink at the end of the week for more than a glass with older work colleagues. It didn’t say they went off and partied elsewhere, which is what I expected but instead that ‘young people are turning their back on alcohol while older drinkers show no sign of slowing down’.

How mobile phones at school are destroying our kid’s social skills

Details: Created: Friday, 25 September 2015 09:57

mobile phones at school At recent parent teacher night one of the teachers asked us if we had any questions. I did but it wasn’t related to the subject area, but a more general concern about mobile phone presence. You see at every school break, morning, recess and lunch the kids pull their phones out and start gaming, texting and social media-ing. When I went to school we were so desperate to run around that’s just what we did. We played handball, cricket, soccer, branding, you get the idea. Now the kids sit down at breaks and stare at their little screens. I loved the sombrero moment in the recent Aussie film ‘Paper Planes’. Couldn’t we apply this to school entry and exit? Would it work at roll call, first thing in the morning, to take away all the phones? Yes I can see it’s not totally practical. But does that mean schools have no interest or responsibility in the social development of their pupils except during class time?

How to help your child deal with betrayal

Details: Created: Friday, 18 September 2015 17:25

betrayal I’m sorry for Tony Abbott, I really am. I was sorry for Kevin Rudd too. I think I’m sorry for our country. We all have been betrayed.
You may not have liked Tony Abbott, or you may have been unhappy with some of his policies or reluctance to act on certain issues, but thankfully in Australia we are not subject to an oppressive inhumane regime. Like one friend of mine noted on Face book, ‘there are no tanks rolling down George Street ’. I thought Tony served hard. Now he has been betrayed, white anted and forced out into the cold by his own party. As parents how are we going to help our kids when they come home sad, angry or confused by their friends?

A few years back on the other major side of Australian politics, Kevin Rudd, the former prime minister for Australia was also betrayed by his own party, the labor party. It was sad that we weren’t able to really celebrate Australia’s first female prime minister properly because it came about through back room deals and skullduggery.

Playground peer pressure and the Syrian refugee crisis

Details: Created: Friday, 11 September 2015 11:24

No parent wants their kids to be spineless sheep always following the crowd, so what did you make of the recent ‘capitulation in the world’s heart’ over the Syrian exodus crisis this week?
Peer pressure can come in a variety of ways. Sometimes it can have a positive effect, discouraging bad behaviour, even an anti- bully culture. Other times it can be hurtful, like when a friend is pressured to ignore you because a group at school wants to exclude you and isolate you. Nice. Sometimes peer pressure creates positive action but with questionable motives.

Smart boards or dumb boards? How technology is dumbing down our kid’s education.

Details: Created: Friday, 04 September 2015 18:19

Christian childrens art Now my website is back, so is my blog and right where it should be helping parents through Anton's Antics' new website! Sorry for the wait, I hope you get heaps out of it...

Remember chalkboards?No? Okay what about white boards?
I remember as I started out as a new teacher hearing a lot of the older teachers moan about the loss of the chalkboard in favour of whiteboards and colourful texta markers.

Minions or Inside Out? What movie is best for your kids these school holidays?

Details: Created: Tuesday, 07 July 2015 11:09

My youngest daughter was desperate for us all to see the Minions movie this holiday break. I was a bit dubious, I mean I liked the guys as a support act in ‘Despicable Me’ but can they really pull off their own movie?

On the other hand, Pixar’s latest installment Inside Out was a total unknown to me until my brother in law said how much he enjoyed it. Unfortunately, though for him, his twin 4 year old boys practically ‘climbed the walls’; it was just over their heads. So if you do go to see it be prepared for it not to be an all round crowd pleaser like the Toy Story series.