John's Articles
15 New Year's Resolutions for Parents
Posted on 1/1/2024
<b>Given that the new year is upon us, I'm proposing a number of parenting resolutions for my readers to consider. The list is by no means comprehensive. It's just a good beginning on what is...
Read MoreRosemond’s Bill of Rights for Children
Posted on 3/21/2023
In 1993, President Clinton signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international treaty that extends to children the rights to associate with whom they please and have...
Read MoreChores for 3-Year-Olds? Yes!
Posted on 5/31/2022
Q: In certain of your books as well as your newspaper column, you have written that children as young as three should be doing daily chores around the home. Exactly what chores are reasonable for...
Read MoreToday’s Kids Have No Idea What They’re Missing
Posted on 5/24/2022
I grew up in the “You’re Making a Mountain of a Molehill” Era, also known as the Age of “Children Are Starving in (fill in the blank with some remote place)," and by golly, I’m a better person for...
Read MoreDon't Enable Entitled Teen
Posted on 4/19/2022
A recent online article concerned a mom who refused to pay her teenage daughter for doing household chores. A poll of readers found that an overwhelming majority of them agreed with the...
Read MoreOn Chores, Discipline, Potty-Training
Posted on 3/29/2022
Q: When I give my 5-year-old daughter a chore, she does it, but all the while she is muttering under her breath, huffing and puffing, and so on. Do I discipline that behavior or just let her...
Read MoreIn Defense of ‘Because I Said So'
Posted on 2/1/2022
Q: Concerning chores, another expert recommends giving a child a certain number of chips, like poker chips, every month and if he or she fails to do a chore or doesn’t do it properly, you take a...
Read MoreHow To Help Your Child Get More Grit
Posted on 9/7/2021
It’s all over the web, that “grit” thing. Seems like every day, I get some promo for a webinar on how to get more grit, project more grit, or get in touch with your inner grit. So, allow me to...
Read MoreKeep It Simple With Your Kids During Quarantine
Posted on 4/14/2020
One website is titled “How to Cope with Kids During Coronavirus.” Another, featuring a staged photo of an obviously frazzled mom with a toddler on her lap, tells the reader that “Parents are...
Read MoreThe Biggest Mistakes Parents Make (and How to Stop Making Them!) - Part 2
Posted on 2/11/2020
This is the second in a series of three columns on the Biggest Mistakes Parents Make (and How to Stop Making Them!). Last week, I identified giving children explanations for parental instructions,...
Read MoreThe Six C's of Parenting the Strong-Willed Child
Posted on 9/20/2019
The term "strong-willed child" has embedded itself in our vernacular to mean a child who wants to be at the center of everyone's attention, is highly demanding (and won't take "no" for an answer),...
Read MoreToday's Parents Afraid Kids Won't Like Them
Posted on 8/13/2019
Short questions I’ve been asked of late (mostly by journalists) and proportionately short answers: Q: Is there a single most important thing parents should be teaching during their children’s...
Read MoreThe Most Powerful Love Is Tough Love
Posted on 7/2/2019
Q: On several occasions over the last six months or so, our 12-year-old son has told us he’s been thinking about suicide. Apparently, he’s been the target of a couple of school bullies and...
Read MoreChild Raising vs Parenting
Posted on 4/23/2019
There is child raising and there is “parenting.” America replaced the former with the latter in the 1970s and it’s been downhill ever since. My mother – a single parent during...
Read MoreThe Children-Need-Lots-Of-Attention Myth
Posted on 1/22/2019
One of the more difficult facts for today’s parents, as a rule, to wrap their heads around is the…I’ll say it again, with emphasis…FACT that children do not need (as a general rule) a lot of...
Read MoreMake 'Em an Offer They Can't Refuse
Posted on 10/16/2018
When I was a child, my most important possession was my bicycle, followed closely by my radio. My bike was how I got around. I rode it to school, friend’s houses, pick-up...
Read MoreYes, I Am "Old-Fashioned"
Posted on 3/6/2018
An individual who occupies a fairly high-level position in the mainstream media recently told one of my associates that I’m “old-fashioned.” She meant it as a slight, but I hardly took it that...
Read MoreParents, Not Teachers, Are the Reason for Decline in Education
Posted on 10/12/2017
Richard Louv, author and former columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune, began a column in the mid-90s as follows: "At the beginning of the school year, it's good to remember the key to...
Read MoreDo Your Homework Before Choosing a School
Posted on 5/30/2017
Q: We have just moved and are seeking a new school for our two children – 6- and 8-year-old boys. They are smart, respectful of adults, and creative. We know that sounds like typical bragging, but...
Read MoreHome Alone: Is Your Child Ready?
Posted on 3/9/2017
For some folks, the phrase "latchkey child" rings of parental neglect. Yet, unlike in the movies, most kids who are left unattended in an empty house do just fine, emotionally and otherwise....
Read MoreA Guide to Kids and Chores
Posted on 1/27/2017
<b><i>Household jobs will help your kids master the mechanics of running a home, and the skills needed for responsible living. Here's how to get them started and encourage their...
Read MoreParenting 101
Posted on 1/9/2017
<i><b>Welcome to Parenting 101. Upon passing this course, you will have acquired what it takes to raise children who are mannerly, self-disciplined and do their best in school. As you will see,...
Read MoreHow We Got Our Children to Do Chores
Posted on 5/17/2016
This is the absolutely true story of how Willie and I took two children who "would not lift a finger around the house'' and removed them from Family Welfare: When our children, Eric and Amy,...
Read MoreReclaiming Parent Leadership
Posted on 5/12/2016
Things have really changed now that parenting has turned into a project focused on deep (theoretical) psychological qualities. Parenting used to be about children's values, character, and...
Read More'No' Is Best Answer When Mom and Dad Disagree on Parenting Issue
Posted on 3/15/2016
Q: Is three hours of one sport once a week too much for a 7-year-old? This sport meets from 6 - 9 PM. It is nearly 10 PM before child is in bed (as opposed to usual 8:30 bedtime). My husband...
Read MoreToday's Grandparent's Deserve Well-Behaved Grandchildren
Posted on 2/23/2016
A recent article on grandparenting.com says that many baby boomers are experiencing difficulties in their relationships with adult children, including “not enough time together, not enough regular...
Read More5 Tips for Teaching Your Child Humility
Posted on 10/6/2015
A mother who attended a recent presentation during which I described the differences between high self-esteem and humility writes asking “What should my husband and I be doing to help our children...
Read MoreShould You Pay Your Child to Do Chores?
Posted on 5/5/2015
A major US newspaper recently ran a piece detailing all the ways children benefit from doing chores. Well, not all the ways. They failed to mention the most important benefit: chores, properly...
Read MoreNot All Outcomes Are Equal
Posted on 2/17/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond Equality under the law is a uniquely American principle, one that no freedom-loving person would oppose, but the manner in which said principle is...
Read MoreGood Parenting Decisions
Posted on 5/20/2014
Q: For the first five years of her life, it was just me and my now 13-year-old daughter. I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. I wasn’t consistent; I didn’t hold her accountable; I was an...
Read MoreThe Ticket System for Corrective Discipline
Posted on 4/28/2014
I developed "Tickets" in response to the observation that time-out only works with children who are already fairly well behaved. (Then again, just about any demonstration of parental disapproval...
Read MorePiling On
Posted on 4/28/2014
In football, "piling on" occurs when defensive players continue to fall on top of an offensive player after he's been tackled. Because it's unnecessary as well as dangerous, piling on is...
Read MoreThe "Hang in There Principle"
Posted on 11/26/2013
Q: My 11-year-old son cuts corners on everything. If he does a chore, he'll leave the cleaning products behind. If his bed his hard to make he hides the sheet in the closet and throws the blanket...
Read MoreChores: Start Early
Posted on 8/21/2012
Q: I know you think children as young as 3 should be doing chores around the home. That seems awfully young, but can you recommend several age-appropriate chores I can try with my 3-and-one-half...
Read MoreUnconditional Love and Unequivocal Leadership
Posted on 8/7/2012
In the late 1960s, as psychologist B. F. Skinner's behavior modification theory made the jump from academia into popular culture, the focus in child rearing shifted from molding character to...
Read MoreGive Children What They Need and Little of What They Want
Posted on 11/22/2011
Respect children; don't idolize them A young mother who identified herself as a practitioner of "attachment parenting" recently told me that "children should be approached with reverence." I...
Read MoreStep-Family Issues: Parent From the Marriage
Posted on 11/15/2011
How to 'parent from the marriage' Q: Several years ago, I married a widower who never disciplined his children. They are now 9, 14 and 16 and he still has a very difficult time denying them...
Read MoreTechnology and Household Chores
Posted on 10/4/2011
Skip the app for children's chores Full disclosure in four parts: First, I am not a tech-savvy person and never intend to become one. Second, I am convinced that the less technology, the better...
Read More8-Year-Old Girl Not Completing Chores
Posted on 5/24/2011
Let children know you mean business Q: Our 8-year-old daughter has not been completing chores and following directions. On the morning of a recent soccer game, she failed to follow some simple...
Read More15 Resolutions For Parents
Posted on 1/4/2011
15 resolutions for parents Given that this is the first column of a new year, I'm proposing a number of parenting New Year's Resolutions for my readers to consider. The list is by no means...
Read MorePaying Children for Good Behavior, Chores, Good Grades, Etc.
Posted on 11/30/2010
Time for the really bad parenting advice award Every so often, when I'm feeling in an especially mischievous mood (as opposed to my typically mischievous mood), I award a RALPH - Rosemond's...
Read More10-Year-Old Girl in Step-Family with Very Lenient Mom
Posted on 10/19/2010
Ultra-lenient mom Q: Our 10-year-old daughter goes back and forth between our house and her mom's. Our homes are run very differently. Bio-Mom gives her everything she wants (TV and DVD in her...
Read MoreHigh Self Esteem
Posted on 9/21/2010
Spare the praise and save our civilization The notion that adults should do all they possibly can to advance the self-esteem of children is dying a slow but, we hope, unavoidable...
Read MoreGrowing Up in the 1950s
Posted on 8/31/2010
What today's kids are missing What do today's children seriously lack that children in the 1950s and before enjoyed in abundance? To assist the reader in figuring out the answer before it is...
Read More4-Year-Old Girl is Messy
Posted on 2/9/2010
It's always one step at a time with 4-year-olds Q. My 4-year-old is just plain messy. I expect her to help out around the house, and she does, but she rarely finishes a chore. If I ask her to...
Read MoreBack-To-School Tips for Parents
Posted on 9/8/2009
BACK-TO-SCHOOL TIPS FOR PARENTS Several teachers asked if I would reprint a column that first appeared about 10 years ago. The subject is my five top back-to-school tips for parents. Before...
Read MoreDiscipline is the Process by Which a Child is Taught to Think Properly
Posted on 5/5/2009
THINK DIRECTION, NOT CONSULTATION In her 1963 essay, "Total Effect and the Eighth Grade, " Flannery O'Connor's purpose was to argue for requiring children to read the classics that defined...
Read MoreMore Parents Saying Yes to No
Posted on 3/10/2009
A POSITIVE SIGN: MORE PARENTS SAYING 'YES' TO 'NO' While walking through one of my favorite discount stores the other day, I happened upon a scene that gave me hope for America's future. It was...
Read MoreParenting 101: More Chores, Less Electronics
Posted on 12/2/2008
MORE CHORES, LESS TV GOOD FOR KIDS This is the conclusion of Parenting 101, a two-part overview of the fundamentals of parenting. We've established that parenting is about leadership and...
Read More4-Year-Old Boy Hitting Others at Preschool
Posted on 11/18/2008
KIDS WHO HURT OTHERS NEED TO BE STOPPED Q. Our 4-year-old son is hitting others at preschool and has to spend the afternoon in his room for this. In soccer, he's pushing kids down and tripping...
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