My wife came across this awesome website when we were looking for an online game to help our daughter learn to read. It has all kinds of really cool flash games and spelling activities. I send this out by email to all of my subscribers and I was thrilled to get so many replies from people. Lots of you already knew about it, but way more had never heard of it and thanked me for the suggestions.

Check it out. You’re going to like it.

Hey, I'm Chris Thompson. I help stressed-out parents deal with toddlers. Grab the free lesson I've prepared for you. You'll love it. Email:

According to Kristen Baisden, a school district psychologist:

“parents often fail to hold their kids accountable for poor decisions. The result is they often excuse bad behavior, finding it easier to hold others, including themselves, accountable for their children’s irresponsibility.”

I agree with this statement 100%. You don’t need to constantly yell and nag your kids. If you do, you are training them to ignore you.

Here’s a link to the story I’m talking about.

What do you think, people? Agree, disagree?

When I was younger, I used to work as a lifeguard and swimming instructor. It was a great job for me because I loved working with kids all of my life, and I was great at teaching them to swim.

The holidays are fast approaching. I realize different people celebrate different holidays, and even if you don’t celebrate Christmas I think you’ll get something out of this post.

It was Sunday morning and I was home with the kids while my wife was out at her usual workout. We were having breakfast and I put on some Christmas music. My older daughter said to me, “Daddy, can you put on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?”

We play our music from the computer, so I went over to the laptop to check. I didn’t have that song. Two minutes later I had found a great website with LOTS of free Christmas music. Here’s the link. I was able to download Rudolph, and a bunch of other great songs. There are plenty of kid-sung songs also, and I think toddlers, preschoolers and young kids of all sorts will love them. Check it out.

My Favorite Tech Gadget:

I use my computer to play music straight over our home stereo. I have iTunes loaded on all of our machines (both Mac and PC). A few years ago I bought this gadget called an “Airport Express”.

If you keep your music on your computer this is an absolutely must have gadget. The Airport Express plugs into the wall, and is very small. It connects over your Wi-Fi network and lets you play music from any computer (in any room) over to your stereo. It connects to the stereo using a normal left/right (red and white) RCA plug. The cool part is that this gadget now costs less than $100. When I first bought mine I believe it was $199.

The music is transmitted wirelessly, and it’s a digital connection so you are not losing any quality over the air. It’s really a fantastic solution. In my house, we have a laptop near the kitchen and I can just stroll over to it, pick a song, and it comes out the stereo nearby.

So enjoy the holidays that are coming soon! If you celebrate Christmas check out the free music I mentioned above, and consider getting yourself (or your tech-gadget loving spouse) an Airport Express.

Oh, if you own an iPod Touch (or iPhone), you can also use that gadget to remote-control your music and send it directly to the stereo too. That’s another reason to love the Airport Express.

I was reading Parent Hacks today, and found a great post on how to keep your kids entertained this winter without spending money. The idea presented was to make your own bowling set.

Here’s how: take empty juice or water bottles, and fill them partially full with uncooked beans (ultra cheap!). Just fill them up to about 1/3 full, enough to weight down the bottom. Use any decent-sized ball (such as a foam Nerf soccer ball) to knock over the pins.

We have one of those toy bowling sets at home, with 10 colorful pins and 2 black plastic bowling balls. It probably cost $20 at Toys’R'Us. I don’t really remember. But come on … how hard is it to take a bunch of empty water bottles and partially fill it with beans (or rice, or rocks, or sand). Parent Hacks says to tape the lids on. I say GLUE the lids on so your kids don’t pour out beans on your carpet.

Now you have a toy that is cheap and reliable. Kids LOVE playing with these types of homemade toys, and they really don’t notice that it didn’t come from a store.

If you are dealing with the terrible twos, make sure you check out my audio course for parents, and get the free lesson.

This post is more personal, and not so much about parenting.  But since this is supposed to be a parenting blog, the topic fits into the category of setting a good example for your kids to follow.

I have established a short term goal of losing 7 pounds of body fat.

Let me give you some background here.  I’m not overweight, and most people who hear this goal tell me I don’t “need” to lose any weight.  I am 5 foot 10 inches tall, and when I step on the scale it says 167 lbs.  I fit into pants with a 32″ waist (but they are more snug now).  I’m much more active and fit than the average 35 year old male.

But I definitely don’t have the physique that I used to even 5 years ago.  This is because I’ve relaxed my own healthy habits.  It has nothing to do with my actual ability to regain that physical condition.

A few words about “need”

When people say “Chris, you don’t need to lose weight”, I reframe their comment so they understand where I’m coming from.  I focus on the word “need”.  I often say to them that I don’t “need” to get regular haircuts, and I don’t “need” to exercise.  I don’t “need” to eat healthy.  I don’t “need” to be productive each day.  Instead, I could just let my hair grow to the floor, never shave or bathe, eat garbage food, sit on the coach and expand my waist.

Start thinking about what you want rather than what you need.

My motto is to constantly be improving.  I like to push myself in a healthy and fun way.  The result of this, from a physical perspective, is that I feel proud when I look in the mirror.  My wife tells me I look great.  I feel better.  I feel energetic after running up the stairs.  It’s a nice feeling.  I still have that feeling today, but it’s not as strong as it was a few years ago.

Setting an example for the kids

It’s also important to set a great example of health for your kids.  So with that in mind, I felt like writing this post to describe how I plan to accomplish my goal of getting back to 160 lbs (and regaining the full six-pack), while involving my kids.

I’ll be eating more fruit and vegetables. My kids will see this and I’ll make sure to point out to them why I’m eating these things as snacks between meals, etc.  My plan is to consume 6 cups of fruit and vegetables (combined).

When I say “cup”, I mean approximately a serving.  So if I eat an apple, that’s a cup.  Same with a banana, a pear, a couple of kiwis, a couple slices of cantaloupe, or a handful of strawberries.  Fruit is a fantastic source of nutrients, fiber, and water.  I always feel refreshed after eating fruit.
I’ll be stretching and breathing every evening. This will happen after dinner, and before we put the kids to sleep.  I used to do this with my oldest daughter, before we had the second.  I’d like to re-introduce this habit into our lives.  The kids like to copy me, so I’ll simply have them copy me doing stretches and some deep breathing.  It’s very relaxing before bedtime.

I’ll start acting more like a kid. Isn’t it funny how kids are so thin, yet adults build up all that excess body fat?  Did you ever notice that kids actually move around more?  Gee, you think this might be connected?  I’ve fallen into the trap of sitting on my behind more often.  I sit on the couch and drink coffee on a Saturday morning.  I tell myself “I’m still tired”.  I use it as an excuse to stay seated.  No more.  I’m going to go back to being a kid.  That means playing with the kids, just like I’m one of them.  It’s way more fun and it’s much healthier.

Target:  4 weeks

These changes, and a slightly more rigorous workout routine, will probably result in my goal being achieved within about 4 weeks.  That’s October 20th or so.  When I hit my goal you can expect me to make another blog post about it, or to at least come back and comment under this post.

Stay healthy and enjoy your children,
Chris Thompson

During the summer we tend to spend as much time as possible in the water.  We love swimming in our family.  I am a self-admitted “big kid”.  I like to play games and goof around.  Toys that  help you soak someone else with water are always fun!

Check this out:  I found a toy called Geyser Gushers at my local toy store.  That link is straigth to Amazon, where they are also available.  This toy reminds me of one of those orange construction pylons.  It is c0ne-shaped with a 1″ diameter hole at the top, and it has handles at the wide part of the cone so you can hold it.  If you learn how to use it properly, you can shoot a HUGE 1″ jet of water about 30 feet.  You’ll soak anyone around you.  What an awesome toy for the pool or the beach.

I’m thinking there *has* to be an easy way to make these at home using some kind of stiff plastic.  But I haven’t figured out how to do it quite yet.  If I can’t make my own, I’m going to buy these for the next time we take the kids away for a sunny vacation in the middle of winter.

I’ve heard plenty of parents complain, “My toddler won’t nap!”  What’s a parent to do in this situation?

I bet that when your toddler was an infant he did nap.  All infants nap.  So at some point the napping stopped.  If your toddler was napping regularly until about the age of 3, then it’s possible they’ve grown out of their need for a nap. Often it’s the parents who want the kids to continue napping so they get some extra child-free time. If that is your situation, I suggest you replace “nap time” with “quiet time”.  We did this in our house and it worked beautifully.  Just allow your toddler to play quietly or perhaps watch a children’s DVD while sitting on the couch with his comfort objects (blanket, stuffed animals, etc).  This will give your toddler a much needed rest.  It’s the next best thing to a nap for the parent also.

For those of you saying, “My toddler won’t nap and he still needs a nap!”, let’s analyze this scenario.  Most likely what has happened is your toddler has come to the conclusion that he’s missing out on something.  So nap time now has a negative association.  I highly recommend creating a new positive association to napping by discussing, with your toddler, what you’ll do after the nap is over.  Always schedule something fun that you can have your toddler look forward to.  This will re-build a positive association to the nap.  Remember, behavior is driven by emotion.  If your toddler has a new negative emotion regarding naps, he won’t want to nap.  So it’s your job to make turn the nap into something positive.  Giving your toddler something to look forward to after the nap is one way to accomplish this.

In my talking to toddlers audio course, I teach parents how to get their toddlers to cooperate by using language techniques.  Get your free audio lesson.

Enjoy your children,

Chris Thompson

When my wife and I take the kids for a day in the sun, we always put sunscreen on ourselves and on the kids.  We are not paranoid about the sun like some people.  We believe sun is entirely healthy.  But there are safe limits to everything, and the positive impact of Vitamin D production is easily offset if you burn your skin.

So how do you get sunscreen on your wiggle-worm kids?  Michelle has a fantastic idea.  She wrote about her idea on her blog. The concept is to put goggles on the kids first, and then spray them head to toe.  Awesome idea!  I’ll have to take her advice.

Enjoy your children,

Chris Thompson

It’s really not that strange to discover that your preschooler won’t listen to you when  you’re asking him or her to do something, or to stop doing something, or to simply pay attention to you.  So what’s the fundamental problem?  Usually it comes down to entering your child’s world.

If your preschooler won’t listen and you’d like to change this behavior, then you need to learn how to build instant rapport with your child.  Instead of barking orders, start with a question that you know will engage and interest your preschooler.  Then subtly shift the discussion towards your request.

Kids react to emotional states the same way adults do.  If your preschooler won’t listen to you when you ask him to clean up his toys, it’s probably because he associates the clean up ritual to the end of having fun, or to the start of something unpleasant (such as having to go to bed).  Parents need to replace the unpleasant association with something the child looks forward to.  If clean up time is always followed by bedtime, and your preschooler doesn’t like bedtime, then it’s no wonder your preschooler won’t listen to you!

For more detailed strategies to overcome this, sign up for a free audio lesson. You can also head on over to learn more about my Talking to Toddlers Audio Course.