Yesterday I posted a tutorial for creating a very basic witches hat scene in the 3D modelling software blender.  This tutorial is a little more advanced, for creating a 3D carved pumpkin model.  It isn't 100% complete because the software crashed on me right near the end and I didn't save in the meantime (SAVE OFTEN!) but I did want to get it up because today is halloween.  I'll do a better one for next year, but in the meantime enjoy.  If you are coming across this one first and want to know how to get Blender and a few of the basic commands, then do look at the Witch Hat one first, at least for a minute or two.

You've probably come to the same realization as I did, reading the common tantrum advice out there.  Some of them don't know kids.  They certainly don't know my kids!

My kids are smart.  Too smart to be fooled and manipulated anyway.  Handled by concepts like "firmness" and "limits", whatever those are or "just ignore it".  I don't want to quote anyone, but just look for tantrums on Google and you'll find countless stories and recommendations about dealing with tantrums.  Mostly, the best way to deal with tantrums is the exact opposite of what's in these advisories, plus maybe a little prevention.  Let's look at a couple of crazy but common examples of handling tantrums that I was able to dig up on the Internet.

Tal Gur, at Below Zero to Hero, just posted an interview of me and my wife.  Tal is a very insightful man with great questions.  He covered our two main parenting and education blogs:  Perfecting Parenthood and my wife's main blog, Nucleus Learning.  Tal's site is all about finding interesting and inspiring people, then sharing thair insights with the world.  I'm honoured to have been found by him.

If you're coming from Tal's site then I encourage you to have a look at some of the popular posts, on the right.  This is mainly a parenting blog but I share many Tal's views on achievement and living life.

Five of my favorite articles:

My Five Year Old Failed In Front Of Hundreds: How Cool Is That?

I've Thrown Every Parenting Technique In The Book At Them: Why Won't They Learn?!?!

Does Your Child Believe? Make Your Child KNOW They Can Be Smart.

Canoing Disaster: A Fun Way to End A Marriage!

Happiness is a Handful of Dirty Cheerios: An Antidote to the Miserable Family

And if you're not here from Below Zero to Hero:

I encourage to read Tal's story and subscribe to his content -- it is truly inspiring and he does a great job of coming up with great interviews.

Thanks Tal!

All my children are multilingual. My first born, now seven years old, speaks, reads, writes (all fluently) in three languages (Polish, English, and French). My second is not far behind, he can speak both Polish and English and is now in French immersion kindergarten learning French. My third is just learning to speak, but he knows both Polish and English.

I am Polish, born in Poland. When we came to Canada, I was only six years old. I didn't know how to speak English, and my grade one teachers thought I was mute, because I didn't say a word that whole first year. Finally, I broke my silence in grade two, and by grade five I had no accent in my English Language. "Kids learn languages very easily." - that's what most people think. In my case, this was true. By grade seven, my parents realized that it wasn't too late for me to learn yet another language, so they sent me to French Immersion. Again, learning French in Grade 7 was easy - I was operational by Christmas, and by the end of grade 7 I was fluent.
This is a pretty typical scenario for immigrant children. The only difference is that most of them lose their first language very soon after they arrive in their new home. Their parents don't keep a watchful eye and the language is lost.

I just finished an interview with Right This Minute, who found me by my last video where me and the boys are causing a little mayhem at the grocery store with a shopping cart.  The interview was my first, and a lot of fun, but I didn't look quite as cool as I thought I would.  Not enough animation!  I'll be giving a speech early next year that may be televised so it was great experience!

If you're here because you saw me on the show then please have a look around, check out the top posts on the right, scroll down to learn how to escape from a maze and do black-belt tickling, leave a comment or two, and subscribe to my feed.

By the way, when they asked me if it was hard to raise four kids I forgot to mention that my wife is the real reason that they get raised so well.  Thanks Perfect Mom!