Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

Parents Need to be Logical

Parents say things to their kids that don’t make sense and expect their children to understand.

Then again, parents say things to their kids that do make sense and children still cannot understand.

Consider these 3 logical parenting phrases that parents use but shouldn’t.

1. As long as you’re living in my house, you’ll obey my rules.

This makes sense when the rules make sense. But there are some parents who definitely need time outs. Should they have to obey their rules, too?

2. God gave you a head. Use it.

Let’s see. Where is the off switch? I think I will turn my head off for a while. I saw a video once where a little baby was trying to make a toy work. The mommy was saying, “Use your head. Use your head.” But it was in Japanese. The baby leaned forward to bang his head on the toy. It still didn’t work.

3. Ask a stupid question. Get a stupid answer.

This usually means the parent doesn’t know the answer.

Daddy says that teachers say there is no such thing as a stupid question. Daddy says that is not true. There are some stupid questions. But when we are little, we don’t know which is which yet. Is it stupid to ask, “Is this a stupid question?”

My daddy lets me ask him anything. Absolutely anything.

Does your daddy let you do that?

Can you add something to this list?

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.