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Fatherhood Advice for Summer. Learn how to adjust your parenting skills this summer a couple of quick tips from SingleDad. Fatherhood, Parenting, Teen Parenting Advice for Dads on SingleDad

Summertime Fatherhood

Author: RJ Jaramillo, Editor, SingleDad.com

Posted: 06/23/12

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Summertime Fatherhood Tips

Let’s face it, we all want to do what’s best for our child and let them have fun this summer, however, sometime’s our parenting skills need a little adjusting when it comes to properly balancing good judgment as a Father. Here are few tips from SingleDad on keeping your fatherhood skills fair and balanced with your children this summer.

Activities: Sleepovers

Summer time activities involve a lot of all day activities and sometimes lead into the occasional sleep over. As a Father of three, I don’t mind having a night off of one less kid, but I want to make sure I am speaking to the right person who is organizing the event. Make sure you are having a “Parent to Parent” chat on the phone and away from ‘outside ears’ listening to the conversation. There is nothing worse than having your child or other children, ‘chiming in’ on the conversation between two adults.

My advice is to make sure the parent on the other end of the phone has complete freedom to say if the overnight stay is cool or not. Depending on which side you are on with the sleepover, make sure there is a pick up time agreed and be flexible about the times if you are dropping your child off. Another great reminder when you are hosting a sleepover is to ask if the other child has been to a sleepover before. Why do I ask, well let’s just say experience has shown me that not all kids are the same when it comes to sleepovers. Some kids fuss a little about missing home, but then subside; while some kids can get freaked out about sleeping away from home and can keep you up all night with their anxiety.

If you don’t have access to the other parent, well let’s just say you will have an event to remember…. If you are hosting the overnight, make sure you have access to the other parent’s cell phone, home phone and email.

Don’t do this, Do this… with Teens

I have a 16-year-old son. It’s tough saying “No” to all the things he wants to do; especially when they are the EXACT same things I used to do when I was his age. The problem is, I now know what he is really up to and it’s not always fun being a Father to a teenager. The fact is, being a Dad sometimes means you have to make tough decisions with your teen.

In most cases, my teen parenting has been fun and I am learning a lot more about my son and myself from most of his summer time activities. Here are a couple tips that will help your summer with your teen become more positive and less negative.

Curfew:

Most cities across the US already have Teen curfews, so it is more than fair to use that time frame as your guide. I live in San Diego and any teen under the age of 18 has to off the streets by 11PM. This time frame includes driving time, so it doesn’t hurt to remind your teen that ‘off the roads’ means at home, on time, every time. Teen Driving accidents and fatalities increase dramatically after midnight, so do yourself and your teen a favor; stay off the roads before midnight and keep to a curfew that you can enforce.

Teen Discipline

Mistakes will happen, and it is an opportunity to be a better Dad rather than be a jerk about it. When it comes to your teen making a mistake, make sure you have your cool and wits about you. There is nothing more mentally damaging to your teen than a, “I talk, you listen” conversation. Before going down that road, try to relax and gather your thoughts and reflect on a time or place when you were in your teen’s shoes with a similar, (but always different) situation.

Sometimes sharing your own personal ‘teen mistake’ is a good way to have your teen relate to the discussion and disappointment that you can both share. The point to good fathering skills during a disciplinary talk is to remain a good listener and be fair and reasonable about the punishment or restrictions to their liberties that you carry out. Bad choices have consequences, so be fair and set reasonable expectations between you and your teen when issuing out the discipline.

How To Be a Better Dad

Being a better Dad to your children is about making plenty of mistakes and being human enough to change your parenting style, forgive your child, and learn along the way. Showing your children your ‘Humanness’ and your gratitude for being their Father is important. Make those memories count and be grateful for the relationships you create with them. Good Fatherhood is not about being a ‘YES Dad” to everything your child wants; it’s about teaching good behavior by example. Being a better dad to your children now will enable them in the future on making the right choices in life and the relationships they develop with other people from their experiences with you.

Richard Jaramillo Richard “RJ” Jaramillo, is the Founder of SingleDad.com, a website and social media resource dedicated to single parenting and specifically for the newly divorced, re-married, widowed and single Father with children. RJ is self employed, entrepreneur living in San Diego and a father of three children. The mission of SingleDad is to help the community of Single Parents “Make Life Happen…Again!”