6 Practical Tips to Tame Your Temper
0Parents who learn to effectively discipline misbehaving kids learn to first calm themselves for this often difficult, emotion-laden task. We suggest that parents develop the habit to “Stop, Breathe, and Get Perspective.” But what does that look like? Here are six easy ways to “get perspective” as you calm your heart for discipline that connects.
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Discipline That Connects®: “You Are Safe with Me”
Learning 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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Kids that “Just Don’t Care!”
“When we confront Devin about his behavior, he just acts like it’s not a big deal or blames someone else,” stated Patty. She and Carl were convinced that their ten-year-old son’s frequent lies and defensiveness were another sign that he didn’t care about them and …
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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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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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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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Uncommon Thoughts About Bullying
We’ve worked with many bullied kids, and with just as many who did the bullying. They were often the same person. As part of National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, we’re continuing a series of reflections and tips that we’ve found helpful in parents’ efforts to curb bullying …
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6 Destructive Lies We Tell Ourselves — And How to Fight Them!
Sometimes we humans seem to act unpredictably or irrationally. But every action has a purpose, rooted in an underlying or “core” belief. Our core beliefs are what guide our behavior. The way core beliefs are formed is complex. Our environment, the media, our peers, and …
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How to Love the Children of Your Reality
We all have dreams for ourselves and our children. When we run into difficulties with our kids, we feel a threat to those dreams, and sometimes we start to panic. What if he can’t get into a good college? What if she becomes a shopaholic? …
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A 3-year-old Broke Our Hearts
Eli and his single mom Kari lived with us for 3 ½ years. We took them in, believing that God could use us to strengthen and prepare them for life’s next chapters. Though raised in a Christian home, Kari struggled greatly with anger and shame, …
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How to Discover Great Solutions to Your Parenting Challenges
Terrell and Janet were visibly tired and discouraged. “Bedtime with our intense son falls apart almost every night! As he resists, we get exasperated with him and end up blaming each other. It’s so frustrating because we’re out of ideas about how to fix this …
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Getting Love Right – Even When it Goes Wrong.
Valentine’s Day and anniversaries are often viewed as a barometer for our romantic relationship. But it’s NOT roses and romance a couple days a year that define a relationship — it’s the deep commitment to fight for connection no matter what.
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Does Your Discipline Connect with Your Child's Heart?
We all want kids who grow up happy, motivated and compassionate. We want kids who want to do right, not because they’re afraid of getting caught but because they desire to do right – even when no one is looking, or they can’t get caught. …
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The Key To Consistent Parenting
It is often said that consistency is an important key to effective parenting. We agree wholeheartedly. However, we believe consistency is not so much about the method we choose, but the heart behind the method. If our heart is consistently operating from an abundance of God’s grace and …
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Working Towards Obedience Pt. 2
We received quite a number of comments about the “experiment” I did with Eli in our last parenting tips email (read here if you missed it). Most parents reported better outcomes when they approached their kids with a “you can do it” vs. a “do it now” …
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