Top 20 Parent Hacks: Tips for Organization, Kid Optimization, and Happiness

“Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected.” - Red Buttons

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks, one of my favorite blogs.

Parenting is equal parts skill and art. The skills — diaper changing, nightmare soothing, gentle encouragement, the “Look” (what I call that piercing glance that stops misbehaving children in their tracks) — can be learned well enough. But the art…now there’s the tricky part. We all have to find our own way with our children, and there are times when only another parent’s “I’ve been there” advice can point us in the right direction.

At Parent Hacks, we swap parenting tips we’ve stumbled on through experience (and sometimes dumb luck), often with a twist of the unconventional or the surprising solution. Parent Hacks is collecting all those hard-earned nuggets of wisdom in the hopes of building the ultimate “back fence” where parents can get real-world advice on the stuff that rarely makes it into the books and mags.

20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life

“Everything has been figured out, except how to live.” - Jean-Paul Sartre

I’m nearly 35 years old, and I’ve made my share of mistakes in my life. I’m not a big believer in regrets … and I have learned tremendously from every single mistake … and my life is pretty great.

However, there are a few things I wish I had known when I was graduating from high school and starting out as an adult in life.

Would I change things? I’m not so sure. I might never have gotten into a mountain of debt, but then I wouldn’t have learned the amazing satisfaction of getting out of it. I might have made better career choices, but then I wouldn’t have all the work experience that makes me the blogger and writer that I am today.

5 Out-of-the-Box Ways to Connect with your Teen, Tween and Young Kids

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Vanessa Van Petten, who runs a teen blog.

Why do teenagers do drugs?

This was the main question in a study conducted by CASA (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse) called “The Importance of Family Dinners.” This study was conducted to find out what causes children to do drugs as teenagers and young adults. It followed 2,000 different types of families and found one major pattern: kids who had regular and frequent family dinners were less likely to do drugs than those with less family interaction.

In other words, family time is one of the most important factors in determining kids disposition to drugs and trouble.

The Value of a Parent Staying Home with Kids, and Tips on How to Do It

Every Tuesday is Finance & Family Day at Zen Habits.

Last week, I dropped my 3-year-old son Seth Isaiah and my 1-year-old daughter Noelle Cayce to daycare for the first time ever.

It broke my heart to leave them there.

Despite my fears and broken heart, both babies did very well their first day, didn’t cry, and actually seemed to enjoy the daycare.

But after 3+ years of my wife staying home with the babies, it is a strange phenomenon to leave them with people I barely know. My wife Eva just returned to work as a teacher, allowing her to finally get out of the house and back to her career, but also breaking her heart as well, as she is so used to being with the babies all day.

10 Ideas for Connecting With Your Kids

Every Tuesday is Finance & Family Day at Zen Habits.

Sometimes we can be so busy with our jobs, and our personal goals, and changing the world, that we have very little time to spend with our kids.

And trite as it may sound, the time we have with them is so limited, and passes so quickly, that we may lose out on their childhoods completely if we’re not careful.