10 Parenting Skills I would Like To Learn {#TuesdayTen Linkup}

We are constantly learning, aren't we? At least, we should be. We may not have some enormous revelation each and every day, but we pick up little tidbits all the time through television, social media, and the people we encounter. It's what we are all sending our kids back to school right now or setting up shop to home school - we want them to learn.

Want to learn something right now? 

September is National Self Improvement Month! (See? There is your factoid for the day!)

In honor of back to school season and Self Improvement Month, Rabia and I thought it would be fun to list some things that we still want to learn. I decided, however, to put a little parenting spin on it.

We all know that there is no standard issue instruction manual given to parents at the hospital when a new baby is born. Oh, we get all kinds of advice, but it is up to us to sift through it and figure out what works for us and for our children.

I am by no means a parenting expert. I have, however, been a parent for a little over 12 years and, in that time, I have learned a thing or two. I'm still learning, though. My children perplex me on a daily basis. I am constantly figuring out new strategies and gaining new insights. No matter how hard I may try, though, I simply cannot seem to master these skills!

1. How to stop my kids from being picky eaters. I have tried offering them new foods many, many times. I have tried sending them to bed hungry if they don't eat the supper that is prepared for them. I have tried rewarding (Oh, alright, bribing) them with sweets. Nothing works. They are still picky and it is still extremely frustrating. Perhaps, someday, I will learn a strategy that actually works.
2. How to stop my kids from bickering with each other. Sometimes they get along. A lot of times, they do not. The bickering is maddening and I would LOVE to learn how to make them stop - instantaneously and forever!
3. How to make my children go straight to sleep when I put them to bed. No more sudden ailments or hunger pains. No more imagined noises or remembering something they forgot. In bed; lights out; BOOM - asleep!
4. How to get my children to do homework without complaining. We have been back in school for only a week, but, already, it has begun. One of my girls threw a fit one day because she had to spend 20 minutes reading one afternoon. When homework time comes, they whine, procrastinate, and get downright mad. If only I could learn how to make them enjoy it instead!
5. How to get my kids to clean up after themselves. Everywhere they go they make a mess. They leave shoes, cups, food wrappers, toys, and "stuff" everywhere. I have instructed and modeled the behavior I want from them, but it doesn't seem to do any good. I wish someone could teach me how to teach them this skill!
6. How to make them wake up happily and promptly each morning. Yes, I said I want to learn how to make them go to sleep, but I also want to learn how to make them get up. The first week of school wasn't bad, but it won't last, I'm sure. I don't blame them because I am not a morning person either. Maybe, in the future, we will all learn to love mornings.
7. On a more serious note, How to determine if an aliment is really serious enough to go to the doctor. "My throat hurts!" "My stomach hurts!" Then, there are random rashes and phantom fevers. A a person with no formal medical training, it is hard to know when to brush it off or when to seek professional evaluation. 
8. How to capture ALL-THE-MOMENTS and remember them forever. I have photo albums. I have pictures stored on CD's and on my computer. I made baby books for all three of my girls. But, still, there is so much I don't remember. I want to remember, though, every conversation, every giggle, every hug. I wish I could find away to memorize it all.
9. How to make heartbreak heal instantly. Fortunately, my girls have not yet experienced much heartbreak, but they will, I know. I wish I could learn how to make that hurt go away instantly so they never have to feel that pain.
10. How to shelter them from the world without sheltering them from the world. I want to travel the globe with my girls without having to explain why there is such stringent security at the airport. I want to turn on the TV for a weather forecast without having to carefully avoid all the murder and war stories. I want to set them free on social media without being terrified of what they will see, hear, or do. I want them to experience all the wonderful without worrying about all the bad.

(I actually wrote a post a couple years ago about real things I would like to learn. Fortunately, I have learned a few things about blogging and writing since then! It is poorly spaced, the writing is mediocre, and I lumped all the pictures in at the end. I've made some progress with some of the things on that list, but others I haven't even touched! If you would like to LEARN about the old list, just click HERE.)

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