Category Discipline
A Surprisingly Powerful Strategy to Spice Up Your Christmas
Last Christmas I pulled out God’s Word to read the familiar passages of Luke 2:4-20 to my niece and nephews and extended family. The version I read from was the Hawai’i Pidgin Bible (“Da Jesus Book”), a Wycliffe translation of…
Why Do Kids Tantrum?
Simply stated, kids have tantrums because they pay off. In some convoluted sort of way they get what they want. Even if it means they lose their cool and wear themselves out. The challenge for a parent is determining what exactly a…
Is “Being the Parent” Actually Good Parenting?
I just read another decent parenting book by a well-known author. It’s got some good ideas in it about how to manage kids’ misbehavior. But like so many of the parenting books I read, it is laced with what I…
Why did two teenage boys demand daily family devotions?
Zeke and Andrew are two teenage boys in a family that started building a tradition of reading the Bible together during Advent when they were pint-sized. Each night they lit the candle, read that day’s page from their advent book,…
How Your Support Helped a Child Learn to Take Her Own Time-Outs
“I wasn’t safe! I need to go to my room to think about this,” exclaimed five-year-old Selah after hitting her infant brother Caleb. It seemed almost miraculous that she would say such a thing.
Do Your Questions Help or Hurt Your Kids?
Ed was trying to be patient and thoughtful, but he was at the end of his rope. Instead of helping him fix dinner, his two daughters were upstairs arguing loudly and disrespectfully. As he listened he thought to himself, “That’s…
The Golden Opportunity of “I’m so STUPID!”
“I’m so stupid, I’m SO STUPID!” Most parents at some point are faced with a discouraged, self-condemning child. That’s painful to hear. Our anxiety often drives us to try to talk a child out of their opinion, in an effort…
Why Do My Kids Misbehave to Get My Attention? [video]
Recently, Connected Families Co-Founder Lynne Jackson sat down with Connected Families Coach Chad Hayenga to get his thoughts on why kids misbehave to get our attention and how we can help them to get our attention in healthy ways instead. Click…
3 Hands-On Practical Tips to Teach Kids Character
Often times in the day-to-day messes of family life we need practical, specific ideas for how to communicate with our kids. Below are three of our most popular and practical tips — ideas that will provide a concrete tool in…
How Parents Can Predict a Meltdown…
Fists clench. Ears turn red. Lips quiver. The tiny chest heaves to draw in a breath and then — “NOOOOOOOO!!” When your child starts working up to a tantrum, those tell-tale warning signs can make an explosion seem expected or…