I like to think that as parents the better half and I are fairly easy going in that department. We make sure that both of our teenagers have everything they need and most of what they want too. As far as our kids go they a pretty well behaved and they seem to love us as much as we love them. Both of our kids also have their own sets of responsibilities in and around the house that they are required to complete if they want their allowances and other privileges too.

However at what point do we have to draw the line when it appears that they are not living up to their responsibilities, which I might add are not as tough or stringent as in other families. We really feel that throughout the course of the day as well as for the week that they do not have to do all that much in order to keep their privileges and toys. Yet every now and then they seem to want to see how much they can get away with and the second they get called on it, they act like their life has ended and that we are picking on them.

I’m not going to tell you that I was a well behaved teenager, because the truth is I may not have been the devil back then, but I was one of his own, or so my mother tells me, LOL. However my wife, who for the record has had her moments as a teen, was an academic in highschool and college, as well as the proverbial preachers daughter, and fairly conservative as a teen. As a result of our differences in our upbringings we have come to realize that there has to be rules and punishment when they are broken.

Now before you all jump to conclusions I am not talking about physical punishment at all. Besides both of our kids are to old for a spanking at this stage in their lives, although for the record as a father I never believed in sparing the rod to spoil the child. I punish them by taking away their computer, phone, TV, allowance and sometimes even their social obligations to friends.

I’m here to tell you when they lose any of those you will get their attention too. When my kids want those things back they break land speed records in the performance of their familial obligations. Don’t get me wrong they will moan and complain the whole time they are taking care of business, but they get it all done in record time. Somehow I don’t think that this makes us bad parents either, so let us know what you think.

That’s all today for this installment of Parents “R” Us, but I guarantee you will be hearing from us again soon. Have a terrific day and CIAO4NOW!!!!!

I want to do something a little bit funny today with Parents “R” US and this popped into my mind. I was wondering what it would take to make people think they were a parents and I came up with this list.

10 - If your kids complain that the remote for the television doesn’t work, but you still remember having to get up off of the couch and turn a knob to change the channel, you might be a parent.

9 – If your kids tell you they can’t do their math homework because the internet connection is to slow, but you remember when it was hard to use a calculator, you might be a parent.

8 – If the kids tell you they can’t go where you want to go, because their cell phone gets no reception there, but you still remember when you had to stay home to get a phone call because there was no such things as cell phones, you might be a parent.

7 – If your kids tell you that a 30 dollar pair of levis isn’t good enough, because if you don’t have the 100 dollar pair of designer jeans everyone else is wearing you are a nobody, but you remember when you had to fight with your parents just to get a pair of Levis because Lee’s weren’t cool enough, you might be a parent.

6 – If your 14 year old daughter or son tells you they want to go hang out at the mall and will be home at midnight on a school night, but you remember when 8pm was too late to stay out on a school night, you might be a parent.

5 – If your kids tell you 20 dollars a week for an allowance is not enough and everyone else gets more, but you can remember when 5 dollars a week was considered a great allowance, you might be a parent.

4 – If your kids tell you they can’t eat a meal at Burger King for less than 6 dollars, but you still remember when 3 cheeseburgers, a large fry, and a medium chocolate shake cost $2.94 there, you might be a parent.

3 – If you have to tell your kids to buckle up because it is the law, but you remember when babies rode in cars without any restraints and riding in the back of a pickup truck was considered a treat, you might be a parent.

2 – If you take your family of four out to the movies for a treat and it costs you $22.50 for tickets, $20.00 for soda’s, and $20.00 for a large popcorn and two boxes of candy, but remember when the whole shebang cost less than $20.00 for either a theater or drive-in, you might be a parent.

And now for the number one example of if you might be a parent…..

1– If you are walking around the house, or the grocery store, or even doing the house cleaning and you know all of the words to The Wiggles Another Cup of Rosy Tea and you are singing it at the time, you might be a parent.

I hope this brings back great memories of more simple times to those of us lucky enough to have grown up in them. Have an awesome day, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

I’m going to tell you right now raising a teenager or two can be very hard. That is because while they are not little children any more they are not quite adults yet either, but are extremely knowledgeable and certainly more bold than when I was in that age group. Sometimes it seem like everything is a contest or a power of wills if you will.

You are still responsible for raising them right, as well as feeding them, clothing them, and putting a roof over their heads. It also goes without saying that you are also responsible for teaching them responsibility and their discipline to. Talk about walking a tightrope lol.

Fortunately I still have a few tools at my disposal and I am not shy about using them to get my way either. My favorite tools are their allowances, the internet, and their cell phones. These are particularly good tools to have in your arsenal because it allows you to have supreme control over their environment in your home and nearly as much on them when they are outside of the home.

An allowance is a good way to teach them responsibility. My kids earn their allowances by performing chores both in the home and on the property as well. I am not saying they do all of the work, but to get their cash they have to earn it. They also have to learn that right now having a paying job is a privilege not a right. They also have to learn that if they don’t do their work then there is a penalty and it costs them money.

The internet is another tool that I have that I use all the time. Having access to the internet is also a privilege not a right. I don’t know a teenager that can go more than one day without suffering from a Web Jones. If my kids don’t do their homework or don’t do their work in school, they don’t get on the computer. That’s it, end of story for them. They also lose this privilege if they think they can win an argument with either me or my better half, because we refuse to lose.

Last but most certainly not least is their cell phones. I treat these much as I do the internet - they are not a right they are also a privilege. They can use these if they do what is required of them educationally, as well as following the rules we lay out for them. If they don’t live up to their responsibilities they don’t have phone privileges.

Of course the one idea that I go out of my way to reinforce with them is that any and all of these privileges can be revoked for any offense, depending upon the severity of their transgression. That does not mean that I am a harsh taskmaster, on the contrary I am very mellow person most of the time. I just make sure they know where my limitations and their boundaries are and keep those lines drawn consistently.

I hope this little blog has helped to give some of you parents with brain damaged teenagers to raise a little insight and help in the arena of parenting, lol. Have a great Friday the 13th and an awesome weekend, CIAO4NOW!!!!!