| Dec 13, 2012
Lobeline Communications PR client Richard Melnick featured on Parents Magazine online!
At age 40, author Richard Melnick was diagnosed with cancer. (Great news: He lived.) It made him rethink his connection to his two young boys. He completely rejected helicopter parenting and tiger mom-ing and came up with his own take-charge style. His kids, he believed, should be helping around the house—and when they did, the whole family benefitted. His methods worked so well that he wrote a fresh and scrappy advice book called Parents Who Don’t Do Dishes (and Other Recipes for Life).
Heck yes, I’m down with this. My kids already walk the dog and pack their lunch (sometimes and via bribery). But dishes? I asked Richard to please, please, please tell me how I can get my children to wash up after our nightly post-dinner disaster. We need to start tonight. Here’s what Richard had to say:
“Why not dishes? For starters, splashing around in the water is fun. It’s an entry-level position, and your toddler can begin on a stepstool. A 2-year-old can play at the sink, a 5-year-old can do it with your supervision, and a 7-year-old can do it on their own. In some countries, kids herd sheep at the age of 5 and play an important role in the family’s economic health. “Hey! How ’bout herding that pile of laundry?”
