Mark Matlock - Ideas for Parents: A Collection of Tips, Insights, and Activities for Real-World Parenting

I N THE M ATLOCK HOUSE, I do the majority of the cooking. My wife is an excellent cookin fact, her degree is in food management. But she doesnt enjoy cooking as much as I do. Planning meals stresses her out. Since I work from home, cooking dinner is my commute. It helps me separate from work and reengage with the family. And I really love to cook.

Thats why youll find a pile of cookbooks on my nightstand. Some are really basic tomes on cooking; others are the more exotic contributions from chefs whove earned three Michelin stars. While not always practical for the home cook, I love reading about the elaborate preparations and flavor combinations.

While most cookbooks cost around thirty bucks, Ive been known to spend more than a few hundred for books on some of the more eclectic, lesser-known techniques out there. (Check out Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold on Amazon. My wife told me I needed to write a few more books before I could purchase that!) I want to provide the best meals I can for my family, and seeing others ideas inspires and helps me.

Id like you to think about this book as if it were a collection of recipes for your family. As with any cookbook, its not meant to be read from cover to cover. Jump into the sections that interest you, given where your family is in this moment.

For instance, if youre coming to this book as your family approaches Christmas or Easter, then section 10, Celebrations and Holidays, might have just what you need. Or if youre worried about a son or daughter whos seemed especially sad lately, then section 4 (Stress, Anxiety, Fear, and Sadness) may have an idea or two that could help.

Youll notice several different kinds of articles across the different sections of the book:

We sat down with a few interesting and semi-famous people to ask about the wisdom theyd gained from parenting and/or being parented.

These are short articles written by experts in the field of parenting, youth ministry, and/or biblical teaching.

Here youll find something to do with your family to reinforce important ideas, build togetherness, or justyou knowhave fun!

Based on specific Scriptures, these are lists of questions to generate conversations with your child about specific biblical issues.

These are quick, practical parenting thoughts based on recent research studies or other sources.

As with recipes some of these parenting tips youll follow word for word, while others youll adapt and modify for your own use. Some ideas may not be useful to you at all, but they may inspire you to create something of your own, like when I invented my Jamaican Jerked Chops and Apple Slaw recipe while watching an episode of The Brady Bunch with my kids. (Remember when Alice and Peter kept saying pork chops and applesauce over and over?)

Also, as is the case with some of the larger recipe collections, the ideas in this book arent solely my own or that of my coeditor, Christopher Lyon. Weve gathered them from many sources, as youll see, including youth ministry pastors and professors, media critics, writers, musicians, and, of course, parents whove traveled the road before us. We expect that some of these sources, if properly Googled, will lead you to even more ideas for helping to develop and nourish the spiritual appetite of your family.

And the ideas dont end in these pages, either! You can follow me on Twitter (@markmatlock) or get updates on our website at RealWorldParents.com (or @rwparents on Twitter). Were constantly reading articles about families, parenting, and teens and passing them along (with a few recipes thrown in every now and then, too!).

Chris and I hope you leave this book on your nightstand and refer to it often as you help your family walk more and more deeply and satisfyingly in the story of God.

Bon apptit!

Mark

P.S. If youd like to find out what I mean when I talk about real world parents, the first two books in the Real World Parents series are written in a more traditional book format. If you havent already, check out Real World Parents and Raising Wise Children for a much more linear explanation of what it means to parent from within the story of God.