Discipline That Connects®: “You Are Safe with Me”
0Learning to receive God’s grace for ourselves, and then dispensing that grace to our kids, is the essence of becoming a safe parent. When we do this, we can focus more on caring for our children’s souls than on managing their misbehavior. It starts with me.
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Discipline that Connects®: Four Powerful Messages All Kids Long to Hear
This post is part of a series on “Discipline That Connects®: Four Powerful Messages All Kids Long to Hear”. Over the next four weeks we will expand on four powerful messages that parents can focus on as Biblical goals when discipline challenges hit the fan. …
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R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Can I Get a Little?
No matter how hard we try to keep calm, sometimes we blow it. When that happens, we can be open to ideas from the Holy Spirit, as was Brenda, a mom who receives our email tips. When we heard her story we invited her to …
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Parenting from a Donkey
Jesus was a “different kind of king”* This was evident in many ways, and highlighted by the unexpected way he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Custom was that a king entered a town with a full show of prestige, power, and authority as a conquering …
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Are Your Easter Traditions Leaving a Legacy of Faith?
We live in a time and place in history that makes living a routine lifestyle extremely difficult. Yet research reveals that one of the most important ways parents can build faith and values into their children is through traditions and rituals. When night-time prayers, shared …
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How a Pipe Cleaner Can Stop Your Child’s Meltdowns!
Does your child sometimes unexpectedly meltdown at the drop of a hat? Does unexpected change or inflexibility lead to frequent tantrums? If so, you’re not alone! Despite Jen’s best efforts, her goal of trying to stop her son’s meltdowns just seemed to make them worse. …
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T.E.A.C.H.ing Values in Real Life
Renee and Randy were in a common repeating cycle with their 5-year-old, Peter. “We felt like we were constantly on eggshells because of his daily meltdowns.” We showed them the T.E.A.C.H. framework, and their next report was a great review of how effectively they applied …
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5 Ways to T.E.A.C.H. Your Kids Values
There are lots of things we want our kids to learn, from how to ride a bike to how to be a faith-filled, responsible adult. Some, like getting dressed, are easy to teach. But how do we teach our children the values they’ll need to …
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Do Warnings Teach Kids to Be Less Responsible?
When dealing with a misbehaving child, many parents follow this pattern: instruction, warning, warning, last warning, really strong last warning, angry explosion!! When we stretch out our instructions into multiple warnings and don’t follow through, it teaches our children to feel insecure under our guidance. …
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What to Do When We Blow Up
As hard as we try to parent like God would, we are human, and sometimes we mess up. We lose our cool, we speak harshly, or sometimes we even blow up at our kids. See how one mom handled her blow-up: The boys wouldn’t stop …
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When Kids Reject Affection, Don’t Give Up!
Parents love to connect with their children. But it’s not always so easy. Some children (whether tots or teens) respond to their parents’ affection in a way that says “‘Private property, No trespassing’ in this heart of mine.” The child may withdraw into a private world …
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Would Your Children Say You Love Them?
Have you ever asked your kids what you do to make them feel loved? It’s worth the ask and you might be surprised by their answers. Once they answer, keep working at communicating love so the kids can’t miss it! These five ideas have helped thousands …
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Did God Spank Moses?
The story of Moses at the burning bush is (thanks to Cecil DeMille and Charlton Heston) one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament (see Exodus 3 & 4). But have you ever read it as an example of parenting? In the story, …
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Why Do Kids Obsess Over Video Games?
During my recent reading of “Boys Adrift” by Dr. Leonard Sax, I came across a letter that really grabbed my attention. The letter’s author is a 27-year-old doctoral student at Notre Dame — oh, and he’s addicted to video games. I don’t think you understand …
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The Power of Questions: One Child’s Surprise Solution for Misbehavior
When kids misbehave, parents are often quick to impose consequences. We’ve found that when parents instead ask kids questions about how they want help, the kids often come up with some pretty cool ideas. When they contribute to solutions, children are much more likely to …
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How to Deal with an Attention Addict
Recently, on a weekend when all our kids were home, we dug out the family videos for a trip down memory lane (or, in the case of our daughter-in-law, a crash-course in Jackson family history). Their antics were rather hilarious – particularly their clumsy attempts …
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What’s REALLY Behind Kids’ Misbehavior?
Have you ever noticed that some kids argue more persuasively than others? Or that some kids’ schemes are actually quite creative? Or that some kids’ resistance to our requests is so persistent that we actually give in to them sometimes?
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The Year of “Discipline that Connects”
“What should I do?” When parents come to us for help they ask the same question. It’s a really important question. But there is no one right answer. What works for one parent may not work for another. What works today may not work tomorrow. …
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Parenting Resolutions You Can Keep!
Happy 2013! As you think about the year ahead, and plans or resolutions you’re making for a better future, we invite you to consider making some high-impact Parenting Resolutions. First, take a minute to put your feet up. Take a breath. Ask the Lord RIGHT …
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When Kids Act Up, Don’t Try to Be More Patient…
It’s time for the after-Christmas let-down. Kids haven’t figured out “sharing patterns” yet for all their cool new stuff, everyone’s jazzed on sugar and tired from disrupted sleep patterns… It’s easy to lose patience. Many parents bemoan their lack of patience for their kids’ sometimes …
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Would Jesus Spank?
We learned quickly in our home that not every child responds well to spanking. When we spanked our intense son Daniel he would glare daggers at us defiantly as if to say, “What good does hitting me do?” His spirit wasn’t “breaking” the way the …
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The Gift of Not Giving: What Kids REALLY Want for Christmas
It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but the Christmas aisles have been stocked for weeks already. Commercials for Black Friday “doorbusters” are rampant, and there is even controversy about some stores beginning their sales on Thanksgiving Day this year. The holiday materialism debate is not new: …
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Thankfulness in Three Dimensions
As we prepare for the upcoming day of “giving thanks”, take a moment to reflect on these three dimensions of thankfulness. First Dimension: Thankfulness for Blessings Big and Small When we think of thankfulness, we often give thanks for things — turkey, pumpkin pie, or …
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The Joy of Family Chores: A Tale of Two Moms
In a family, we all need each other. We are a team, and we share in the responsibility of the household. “God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” (1 Cor. 12:18). Each child …
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The Politics of Respect — In Our Homes!
Republican, or Democrat? Mitt Romney, or Barack Obama? With pre-election hype now at fever-pitch a week before the polls, it is easy to get either fed-up or worked-up with politics! Being an informed voter is certainly important, but we think the most important politics for …
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