I know you have grown kids of your own, so I’m glad to hear you think we’re on the right track.

I LOVE this post. In fact, it made my day.

I love to see bloggers talking about parenting and sharing hints and tips with others. Your advice is right on.

Being present for your children is so important. If they don’t get the attention they need from you, they will find it somewhere else…and then will become satisfied with negative attention (because they got in trouble). They are screaming, “I want your attention”.

I also like your dinner table advice. I just saw a TV show hosted by Paul McKenna, that said if we watch TV while we eat, we are not tasting our food, eat more and are more apt to gain weight. So by you shutting the TV off, you are not only hearing each other, but developing healthy eating habits, and…most importantly, creating wonderful memories.

Great post Nez! Superb advice. Your children are very fortunate to have such great and caring parents.

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I often find myself obsessed over my business and work as well, although I try to leave that to the wee hours when the kids have been put to bed. Whoever thinks that being self-employed is a walk in the park has another thing coming, even if they DON’T have kids.

As for dropping the ball, that’s also why it’s great for you and I both to have business partners who can at times pick up the slack.

I have a few friends whose children went off the deep end (one ended up in prison – three separate times – after attacking his mother and the police). What I’ve noticed with these relationships was that the parents didn’t place as much value or importance on their children. They were more concerned with themselves, their own happiness, and their lives.

They didn’t mean to be selfish or not present, but that’s what they were. It didn’t have anything to do with discipline or rules or anything. Just presence.

I work long, long hours at home, seven days a week. My youngest child has recently picked up the habit of standing directly in front of me, grabbing my face with both her little chubby hands and forcing me to look into her eyes while she talks.

It hurts. Deeply, emotionally, it hurts. My child is telling me clearly that she needs me to be more present and listen to her.

So I’m trying. I have to learn to cope with the fear that, as a self-employed individual with a business to run, I might drop the ball and lose some of the income that helps keep us doing okay in life. I want to provide for my kids, and I do so with everything I have…

But if I’m not providing presence, then I’m not doing my job.

Thanks for the post, Nez. I needed that.

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