Unspoiled Kids

I liked the review I read of the book pictured here, not for the review but the premise of the book. The book makes the following great observation which many of us Gen X parents suspect but are too afraid to live by: OUR KIDS DON’T NEED MORE STUFF!!!!!

It’s not anti-toys or anti-presents (and the author’s not either, because I’ve read her cloumn in an Aussie newspaper here in Melbourne). But it does say that kids get more out of toys that make them think, interact with other people and develop their fine- and gross-motor skills than they do out of another game for the DS or xbox.

Thank the Lord I bought my 13 year old a bass guitar this year and paid for lessons. It’s his default away from the xbox.

How do you feel about the pressure to buy? Do kids have too much, or maybe too much of one thing to the detriment of other pursuits in their lives?

Dads n Lads Retreats

Dudes and dudettes, it’s on! During the 90s I worked with youth. During the naughties I’ve increasingly worked with Dads. About time we combined them.

In 2010, we are putting on the most outrageously good-time retreats for Dads and their 11-13 year old sons where we can share some tried and tested strategies for building the kind of bond our sons need from us Dads while actually DOING THE BONDING! And everyone will be having so much fun they won’t even realise it’s happening.

See our Events page  here for more.

Tell me if you have corporate contacts who can help us take  this to the highest level and quality possible. I truly believe 2010 will see dozens of families with restored relationships, with an unshakeable bond between father and son, and with preventative meaures in place to save young people from the slippery slope of substance abuse and violence that’s plauging their generation.