Counting up to fifty-two “Age 6 (Grade One)” conversations

Why start from Age 6? Well, there is much material on the web for raising children younger than this age, but it is at this mile marker of Grade One that a child is exposed to new content and possesses the necessary thought process and language skills to ignite a truly precious father and daughter conversation. Here are the most notable ones we had this past year, sorted into these 7 themes. It’s no coincidence that at this age, your preoccupation is about self-survival (Dad’s toolkit), defining boundaries and learning for your 6 year-old. A whopping 70% of the articles are written about these 3 topics.

Dad’s toolkit

1. Your tantrums are more upsetting then hers!
2. Accomplish 5 essential things in 2 minutes
3. Slow cookers speed up meal times
4. ’Tis the season to do something for yourselves, dads
5. Don’t bring home your dates
6. I won’t lie; I do enjoy (need) the time when my daughter is not with me
7. Understand why you are nagging at her
8. Play the long game. Ultimately, she’ll make up her mind about you
9. Grade One’s almost over, cherish every moment with a photo book
10. I called my daughter’s bluff; it was scary
11. Future-proofing: another shoe story
12. Brace yourself; your little girl is growing up

Behavior & boundaries

13. “You’re not the boss of me!”
14. If you don’t choose, someone else will do it for you
15. Let her be a princess, but not a queen
16. Do what I do, not what I say
17. Why it’s important for a 6 year-old to learn to apologize
18. The value of alone time
19. I’m not your friend. I’m your dad
20. Stop the whining
21. Your daughter’s pissed with you. Now what?
22. Bossiness: telling your daughter to do stuff vs. not letting your daughter do stuff
23. What ‘oh whatever’ could really mean

Learning

24. Teach your daughter to memorize your phone number
25. Set up a task list (with to-do’s for both of you)
26. Sarcasm can make for great storytelling, until you make her cry
27. It’s never the destination, but always the journey
28. Managing screen time: it’s less about the time and more about the content
29. Starting an allowance
30. Don’t sugarcoat it: that medicine does taste badly and that needle will hurt
31. Make deliberate mistakes when you read to her
32. Slow down. Do one thing at a time
33. She’ll never learn to ride if you don’t take the training wheels off
34. Teach her to accept losses gracefully
35. Fish do not swim in distilled waters
36. Explaining death (Part 1): Age and sickness

Social

37. Girls need heroines — even the ones that come in costumes
38. My daughter got into a fight
39. The day she came home with the f-word
40. Leaves of three, let them be. Girls of three, one will flee
41. How I helped my daughter deal with her bully
42. The who, where and when of sleepovers

Emotional

43. Tell her something about your past
44. Let her watch you cry
45. Give gifts of experiences

Physical

46. The longest night (Part 2)
47. Get her ears pierced only at a body piercing / tattoo shop

The ex-wife

48. “Detoxing” your child after a week at your ex’s
49. Take your daughter overseas, even if you have to go to court first
50. Let your daughter talk to her mom for as long as she wants
51. Guys, stop doing these 3 things with your ex
52. Parenting in a two household family: blame, loyalty and closeness

 

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