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.

Temper tantrum

Here’s another story of a mother who couldn’t control her kid and thought the blogosphere should know about it.

It reads kind of like a rant or a pity party.

Yesterday, I gave my advice for dealing with kids and temper tantrums. And if that advice doesn’t work, then do increase the dosage.

But in the article I read today the point was not that she was having issues with her kids but that she was having issues with somebody offering her advice that she didn’t ask for. That’s called unsolvable advice. (Ed: unsolicited advice)

Some lady out of the blue (actually it was a grocery store) followed the mommy out of the store and made her feel small because of how she handled or mishandled her children.

Uncool. The rule of giving advice if you feel you absolutely must is to offer encouragement. Say something positive.

My daddy is good at this. He is a real encourager. He says it’s fun to make other people feel good.

Yesterday at Panera, he works there sometimes, he saw a couple (daddy was white guy and wife was Asian) with three kids, all under 3. The kids were very well-behaved and the 5-some were enjoying their dinner.

“You guys seem to be doing a great job with your kids. Whatever it is you are doing, keep it up.”

Then daddy left.

Why is it that some families have very well-behaved kids and others don’t?

What’s different? Bad genes? The luck of the kid draw?

Here again is my advice for dealing with temper tantrums, even you didn’t ask for it.

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