Checklist for a Dad Recipe

Every guy should have a few go to meals or side dishes.  For a dish to make the "DAD LIST" a few critical criteria must be met:

• Taste Amazing - I rarely cook and when I do it needs to be impressive.  
• It has your signature - I want everyone in the family to say  - "We love when Dad makes ________". I want to make a memory as much as I want to make a meal.

Involves fire or the grill - It is way more fun to cook with fire and the kids love it.  The grill is a good backup because it is still outside

Your kids can help and they will actually enjoy helping.

• Your wife likes when you cook it and would prefer not to go to the hassle of making it.  I add this because once my wife starts making a dish it is always better than when I make it.
• Breakfast items are really good choices because your wife can get some extra sleep or spend the morning getting some time to herself.
• Use a piece of special equipment for example - waffle iron.  I also have a cast iron skillet that everyone calls "Dad's Skillet.

A Tip for Husbands

Blogger Erik Raymond makes a great suggestion to improve any marriage - Get A Second Job
He writes:

"So husbands, let me challenge you to come home from work like you are going to work at a job you love in a place you love. Come alongside your wife to talk, listen, and learn her. Play with the kids. Do some chores. Make some jokes. Read the Bible. Pray together. Play a game. Make some dessert. Fix something that broke. Flirt with your wife. Sit and talk. Whatever you do, do it heartily and intentionally like a guy who is there, engaged with his family not escaping from his family."

You won't regret reading the whole thing.  Link - Husbands Need A Second Job

Best Snider Rule Ever! - According to the kids

Wouldn't it be great to have a serious conversation with your kids about rules.  One where you could ask them what rules do they think are effective, fair and realistic.

About a year ago we had just such a conversation.  During Christmas everyone was at the house and the kids had a discussion where they came to the unanimous agreement on the very best Snider Family Rule.  Did I mention it was UNANIMOUS - believe it or not everyone agreed.  This doesn't happen often! 

Now at that point our kids were 25, 23, 21, 20. 17, 16, 14, 11 and 8 years old.  Some married, some with children of their own, some single living on their own, and others living at home.  So it comes from those still living under our rules and those just looking back in the rear view mirror of our family life.

"WHAT WAS THE BEST SNIDER RULE?"

The answer: 

PLEASE STOP!!

Any person in the family could say these simple words and everyone - parents included had to stop.

Why would we ever have a rule like that and why was regarded so highly?

This picture helps put things in perspective:

This was taken when we only had 5 children and Gina was 2 weeks from delivering number 6.  Everybody looks happy but any parent taking a look at that crew can see that things could get out of hand pretty quickly if there was no rule of law.

The simple - Please Stop Rule helped our family respect and look out for each other.  Some of the reasons it is a good rule:

• The youngest and weakest always had an outlet when they felt overwhelmed, picked on, or backed into a corner.
• All the children knew the day would come where they would benefit from this simple rule. So it was rigorously enforced by everyone.
• We (Scott & Gina) benefited because it created a pause where we could sort out what was going on and deal appropriately with the situation.
• The children could use it with us. For example if Scott was wrestling or tickling one of the kids they might be squirming around or even running away.  Now you can't be sure if they want to keep playing or really want to stop.  We all knew just say "Please Stop" and it would. Many times one of the younger kids would be wrestling with an older sibling and might start to whimper.  The other kids would say - "say please stop and they have to stop".

What do you think?

Christmas Pictures - 2012

A Few Christmas Pictures - Random No Words