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If you didn’t read last month’s post, Fear and Bicycles – Part One: Fear, please go back and take a look. As a quick recap, last month I revealed that I taught my eight-year-old son to ride a bicycle in less than one day without using training wheels. We discussed that biggest obstacle to learning or trying new things is fear and we considered these three techniques for overcoming fear: Accept and Protect Dismiss and Do Address and Overcome I revealed, that I used the Address and Overcome method while facilitating my son’s attempt to learn how to ride a bike, and in doing so,Read More →

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This summer, I taught my eight-year-old son to ride a bicycle. He learned in less than one day without using training wheels. What superpower did we tap into to achieve this feat? The power of overcoming fear. My son insisted that we install training wheels because he was afraid of falling and getting hurt. It’s much the same fear that can keep kids from trying new things or going to new places. This fear is a healthy and natural reaction that we, as parents can either help them overcome or, often inadvertently, make much worse. Fear, more than anything else, is what blocks us fromRead More →

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(Editor’s Note: Because the victim is a minor, his name has been changed). It’s official, I have failed as a parent. The other day, I picked up my son, Ethan, and his friend, “Bob”, from summer camp. While we were walking home, Bob was telling us how much he enjoyed playing baseball. “What position do you like to play?” I asked. “Batter,” he said, giving the type of verbose reply preferred by eight-year-olds everywhere. “You like to be a batter?” my son asked, with an evil glint in his eye that made me wary. “Yes.” “Great,” Ethan barely suppressed a grin, “Since you like beingRead More →

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My biggest inspiration for starting Spree Speech is to try to leave this world a better place for my son. To do so, I need to learn to be a better parent and, if, in the process, I can help others, all the better. With that in mind, I’m creating a section with posts that may be of interest to all parents, but with a focus on fathers. While you can find these articles on the main page of this site, I am also collecting them in the Father’s Hood page so that those of you who do not want to be bothered with politicalRead More →

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My definition of “father” is very different from most dictionaries. For example, dictionary.com offers this as the first definition, “a male parent.” Okay, from a technical, genetic, standpoint, this is true. But, we are more than just a grouping of genes. We are social creatures and, as such, are as defined by our social nature as our, biological nature (I really wanted to say, “natural nature,” as it is more fun, but biological nature makes more sense). From a social nature (i.e. a family group) standpoint, a father is much more than that. To be a father, you have to be involved with your offspring’sRead More →