Dan Wells: "Persuader" Parenting Style
Submitted by Dan Wells
I have always been good at rallying the troops and getting people onboard with an idea. I love to motivate people to do things that I think would be fun for everyone! Life throws a lot of curve balls at you, but I'm optimistic. I feel like situations are always going to work out and there is always a positive aspect to everything. And I think I'm pretty good and making those around me feel the same way.
I recently had a "persuader" experience that was going great ... until it sort of backfired. ...
Once a month or so, my buddies and I load up a cooler and head down to the lake for trout fishing. Lately, my son Jadon has been pleading to come along. I said yes, but only if he acted like a good fisherman.
Then the persuasion kicked in. For weeks before the trip, I would say, "Hey Buddy, a good fisherman never allows his room to be messy!" Then he'd run and clean his room. Or "Hey Jadon, you know a good fisherman always finishes the food on his plate," and then he'd diligently eat his dinner. It was beautiful.
So after a few weeks of being a good fisherman, we go on the trip. Everything was going great. We got there, we fished, we ate bacon, I had a beer for breakfast—everything was pretty perfect. But then Jadon had to pee. And the bathroom was half a mile away. He really wanted to use the real bathroom, but I didn't want to interrupt the fun, so I eagerly persuaded him to pee in the sand—like a real fisherman! He fell for it and peed right there.
Well, the next day I had a little reunion picnic with all of my high school buddies. I'd found them all on Facebook and persuaded them all to get together with our families for the weekend. It had been a long time since we'd all seen each other, and there we were, swapping war stories about sports, the president, the economy, our kids and how much fun they are ... when all of a sudden, everyone erupts in laughter.
I turned to see my son (one of 25 kids there) with his drawers dropped and peeing in the sand with a big ol' smile on his face 'cause he was so impressed by the trajectory of his stream. I bolted over there and tried to stop him, but by the time I arrived, he'd already peed in front of everyone. Great.
I guess my next job is to persuade him to use the public restroom!
Besides being a parent, actor Dan Wells is known for his television roles on Days of Our Lives and Free Ride as well as guest-starring roles on Will & Grace and Gilmore Girls.
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Read what Dan Wells says about:
Giving Kids Choices
Getting His Kid to Eat
Young Kids & Video Games
Providing Structure for Children
Read what Dan Wells says about:
Giving Kids Choices
Getting His Kid to Eat
Young Kids & Video Games
Providing Structure for Children
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