Bill Corbett

As some of you know, I was running a contest for anyone willing to sign up to join this blog, and giving away timers, t-shirts, and books. My latest contest ended yesterday and I just drew the winners.  The Timer goes to Bron Mitchell, the T-shirt goes to Paula Comeau, and the book goes to Cathy.  If you're one of these folks, email me at bill@cooperativekids.com and provide me with a mailing address.  Thank you all for joining and be watching for more subscriber giveaways. If you want some free help with managing your children's behavior, or help for someone else, stop on over at my Web site http://www.cooperativekids.com/ and see a new Quick Solutions edocument that you can download for free. This new document asks you 4 important questions to help you come up with solutions for effective parenting.  Keep in touch and let me know how I can help you.

One day in 1994, my 9-year-old daughter called me at my office to tell me that she had left her lunch money at home again and needed me to bring it to her. This typical forgetfulness by my children was quite annoying but something I thought I was supposed to resolve as a father. On my ride to the school, I couldn’t help but think about the inconvenience. More importantly, I suddenly became concerned about how irresponsible my daughter would eventually be as an adult if I was constantly remembering for her or rescuing her. That evening, I gathered my three children for an impromptu family meeting to discuss a few changes that would take effect immediately. I announced that from now on, they were solely responsible for remembering to bring with them any items they needed for school that day — lunch money, homework, and school projects. I advised them that unless it was required for health and safety reasons, I was no longer willing to run home and retrieve what they left behind. My respo...