I think for the most part, I'm a pretty decent stay-at-home dad. One of my strong suits is that I'm fairly zen about parenthood. I don't get angry or upset easily when Kenzie does something wrong. I take it in stride. I accept that it's a part of her growth process. She learns. She rebels. She makes mistakes. She causes problems intentionally. It's all natural. I handle it all with ease, peace, and happy zen.

There are problems with taking it too easy though. Sometimes I forget to hold Kenzie accountable for some of those actions, especially the negative behavior.

Here's a good example. Kenzie has taken to bossing me around. I accepted it and did her bidding, because I zenfully looked at it as play. However, when I didn't follow through, she threw a temper tantrum. This too is all natural. She's learning to assert control. She's also learning about manipulation. For me, it's not about the tantrum. That doesn't bother me. It's about being a little too zen.

There's a fine line every parent must draw. Some draw it too tight and regiment every aspect of the child's behavior. Some, like me, don't regiment enough. There's a happy medium. It's never easy. It's letting go some of the zen to properly educate your child. To do that, I must start with myself and change my own behavior so I can just be a better dad.