Best Parenting Advice

Here is a compilation of all the great parenting advice that we received from readers over the years.

Parenting Advice #1: Lock your bedroom door.
Some people put a cowbell on their kids' door. Just don't count on hearing a knock before you hear the worst words, "daddy, what are you doing to mommy." A lock is very cheap insurance.

Parenting Advice #2: Take thousands and thousands of photos.
With digital that's easy to do. The trick is to edit them so that your computer isn't storing thousands and thousands of pictures. Garry Winogrand, the great 20th century black and white photographer died with 2500 rolls of undeveloped film. He shot and shot and his skill was in finding the diamonds in the rough. With kids, this is doubly important since they rarely sit still for perfect images. The more you shoot, the better chance you'll capture the real them.

Leave a loaded camera on the kitchen counter and be ready for every photo opportunity. The worst camera to have is the one you don't have with you when the perfect shot happens. Rather than buying a super-duper camera, the best dad photographers have a fairly cheap point and shoot camera that's small enough to keep in a pocket and always at the ready.

Parenting Advice #3: Learn how to juggle.
Juggling amazes small and even big children. It's something you can teach them later and it's a basic dad skill.

Parenting Advice #4: Kiss your wife goodbye and hello in front of the kids.
No can overestimate the value of showing the kids every day that they live in a loving and secure home. Do this especially if you're mad or having a fight. It might just have some side benefits to your marriage as well.

Parenting Advice #5: Avoid passing bad habits on to your kids.
If you swear or smoke, think about how your kids are likely to imitate you. It's a big responsibility.

Parenting Advice #6: Don't set your sights to high on what kind of dad you should be.
Every dad wants to be a "great dad," but we all lose our temper, need a break from the kids, and sometimes wonder what we might have done without the responsibilities of parenthood. We're all human, so give yourself a break from worrying that you could be better. Just try to be the best dad you can be at your next shot, whether that is story-reading time tonight or a day at a ballgame this weekend.

Parenting Advice #7: Buy a minivan.
Though not really a "tough" vehicle, a minivan is the perfect family vehicle for its sheer practicality and the comfort it offers.

Parenting Advice #8: Watch cartoons with your kids. Learn the lyrics to the songs. Get MP3s and play them in the car.
The kids will be impressed that you want to join their club.

Parenting Advice #9: Start planning for college fund NOW.

Parenting Advice #10: Be consistent.
Kids like structure and the more you repeat and model consistent behavior, the better chance your kids will act accordingly.

Parenting Advice #11: Learn a few magic tricks.
The granddaddy of them all is the French Drop, where you seemingly grab a coin from one hand and make it disappear. This trick is extremely portable, requires only a coin, and will mystify small children and some dimwitted adults. Search "French Drop" on YouTube for many good tutorials.

Parenting Advice #12: Take a break.
If you work hard and also spend a lot of time with your kids, you need a break every once in a while. Couples who find time to spend alone without kids are better able to maintain close relationships. Time away can be just a date night, or a planned weekend away.

Organizing childcare is not easy, but most couples find that time away gives a reassuring jolt to their relationship and reminds them why they found each other in the first place. This is very valuable especially if you're wondering what you have in common besides the kids.

Parenting Advice #13: Don't drink and drive.
Reality bites, but having kids teaches you a few things. First, you don't ever ever want to have something happen to your family. Second, you don't want to get hurt and not be able to care for your family. Third, you don't want to lose your license and have to make up a lame excuse to your school carpool buddies. Fourth, think of how mad you'd be if you realized how many other people are drinking and driving on the same streets where your kids play.

Parenting Advice #14: Carry your toddlers.
Put them on your shoulders or on your back every day, if your back can take it. The time that you can do that with them is very very short, and it's one of the best memories kids have of their dads from their toddler years.

Parenting Advice #15: Use your watch.
The best way to occupy a bored kid is to hand him your second hand-equipped watch and start peppering him or her with challenges. How long can you stand on one leg? Hold your breath? Keep your eyes open without blinking? Sing the National Anthem/? The list is endless. It keeps them occupied and calms them down.

Parenting Advice #16: NEVER hit your child. Period.

Parenting Advice #17: Quit smoking dope.
Arlo Guthrie said he quit smoking pot when he had kids and realized that he didn't want to be high if something ever happened to a child and he had to figure out how to get help. It sounds uncool to say, but drugs and kids don't mix.

And LASTLY

Parenting Advice #18: Kiss your child every day and say "I love you."
Say these 2 things every day to your child: "I love you" and "I'm proud of you." It's a short list with an endless payoff. (Thanks to David George and "Good Bad/Bad Dad.")