As the newbie on this blog, I thought I’d kick things off by sharing why I like farts.

But I’m not going to write about why some people like to smell their own farts, or how effective farts can be for ending awkward conversations with a spouse. I’m going to share why farts are a good parenting tool.

I have a 6-year old son. We have a lot of fun together – playing soccer, making Popsicle stick houses, and creating origami frogs and rabbits.

But sometimes we just don’t connect. Sometimes we’re butting heads. My head as a parent, my own ego in many cases, and his head as a boy with his own agenda. You’ve been there, I’m sure.The cool thing about 6-year old boys is that they have the attention span of a gnat with ADHD. Now if you’re creative, it’s easy to switch the tracks and send the train in a new direction. You can make a drawing, play a game, or read a book.

But sometimes you have parents block. You can’t think of anything to switch the temper train in a new direction!

What do I do? I make farting sounds. And it’s becoming a game.

He names an animal and I’ll imitate how it’s farts sound. Snakes, gorillas, horses, ants – even fish. He’s almost totally convinced that I actually know how every animal sounds when it farts – really!

And it works. But not because he’s six. It works because he’s a kid - like all of us.

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