EpicParent.tv – Honest • On the Edge • Creative Parenting

Do you play favorites?

Do you show more affection towards one child over another?

Do you discipline one child less than the other?

Do you give more priviliges to one child?

Do you spend more time with one of your kiddos? (more…)

Today’s post is from my good friend Brian Bruss! Brian is the Campus Pastor at the Northwest OKC Campus of LifeChurch.tv.  Brian and I have been friends for years and have walked through the good, bad and ugly of life together.  He is a tremendous leader, father, son, husband and pastor.  Brian and Divina have two younger kiddos and it truly is an honor to have Bruss post for EpicParent today.

Mr. Bruss, may the force be with you!!  (as cool as Brian is, he is a HUGE Star Wars nerd)

So here is Bruss… (more…)

I am a fan of the show Undercover Boss.

In case you have never seen the show…

CEO’s of major corporations go “undercover” and work as new employees in their own organization to check on the health of their own organization and employees!

I am telling you, if you have never seen the show…it’s must see TV for sure. (more…)

• “In Love” guilt your kids into attending a youth group with a TOTALLY RAD youth pastor.
• Make your kids attend a youth group with a cool name like “Warriors of Light”, “Next Level”, “Solid Rock Café’” or “Hot For Jesus”.
• Attend the “hipster” church in town.
• Say “NO” to a sex, drugs & rock and roll public education and “YES” to a uniform wearin, slack sportin, above the ears and below the knees Christian education. (more…)

I am sick of PREDICTABLE  parenting advice!

Should we really have to be reminded to give our kids the gift of love and  encouragement?  I mean this is really “Parenting For Dummies” kind of stuff, right!!?!

So in my disgust for restating the obvious, here is an UN – PREDICTABLE gift that mom and dad should give their kids. (more…)

Another great post from 2011…

My daughter, Kylie, is a Justin Bieber fan and she has been begging me to sit down and watch his new movie Never Say Never.  I know that Justin Bieber and other “teen idols” can be a point of controversy in the parenting world and that some of you love him and others would never let their kids listen or watch any of his stuff.

I have honestly struggled allowing my daughter to get caught up in “Bieber mania” but my wife has lead Kylie through this while I have watched from a distance and I have learned a ton from her on how to strike a healthy balance in this issue.

So I finally decided to sit down with Kylie and watch the movie and I have to say that I loved it!  (more…)

This was a post that was part of a series' called 5 things!!  One of the most popular of 2011...

5 THINGS EVERY SON NEEDS FROM HIS MOM

• JESUS: So many moms show their sons that they love control, money, working out, fashion,  facebook, their careers or their daughters more than they love their sons .  I believe that moms MUST step up to the plate and show their sons that they love Jesus more than them or anything else in their life.  That’s right mom!  Your sons must know without a shadow of a doubt (old churchy language) that you love Jesus more than you love your very own flesh and blood.  Model this and you will raise sons that will not settle and will search high and low for a woman that loves Jesus!!

• THINK CAVEMAN: Thanks to babble.com and shine.yahoo.com for this content!  I couldn’t say it any better!!  “Adult women have thousands of emotional states, as do girls like my daughter. Boys, on the other hand, tend to feel one of three: mad, sad, happy. Don’t project your complex emotional life on your son. His issue of the moment might not be that complicated. He wants to eat, poop, or run. On a really bad day he wants his toy back after some other kid took it from him. He doesn’t want to stare out the window and have lengthy discussions about the meaning of life, as my eight-year-old daughter often did.

• LET HIM FRIGGIN DO IT: I don’t think “friggin” is a word but it is better than the alternative!  Mom’s, I want you to know that you are handicapping your boys when you don’t let them “friggin” do it.  Let them pick out their own clothes, let them feed themselves, let them make their own lunch, let them pump the gas, let them make the skate ramp, let them fart, let them make the fort in the house that takes every blanket & chair, let them mow the yard, let them choose the best way to study,  let them choose their girlfriend or spouse for that matter (novel idea) and when they do get married, let them choose where they want to spend Christmas.  Mom’s please don’t “DO” everything for your boys!  Allow them to choose, fail and figure it out!

• SAFETY: Dad’s can be tough on their boys, pushing them to succeed, run faster, draw better, throw harder and be smarter.  My boys need their mom to be a safe place.  A place where they can share their thoughts on dad’s intensity, a care taker when they are sick with lots of TLC (not the band TLC), to rescue them when deadlines hit, a janitor when the vomit hits the floor in the middle of the night, to pick up their confidence when a sassy chic dumps them and to love them, give them grace and believe in them when they are down in the dumps.  Are you a safe place for your boys?

• BELIEF: I was speaking to my mom on the phone last week and she spoke life deep into my soul.  She told me that I was an amazing father, strong speaker, great writer and phenomenal husband (doing all that I did when Jodie was in school).  I don’t tend to believe all of this, but what I do know is that when no one else does, my mom always believes in me.  Mom’s, your boys need you to believe in them.  They need you to believe in their character, jump shot, grades, decisions and that they have what it takes.

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