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Tag defiance
Why Is My Child So Angry All the Time? | Ep. 126
Are you trying to understand your child’s frequent frustration or angry eruptions? Do you find yourself turning to the internet to ask, “Why is my son so angry with me?” or “Why is my daughter so angry all the time?”…
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4 Simple Ways to Bridge the Mother-Son Divide
Father-daughter dances bring delight as tall suits and little skirts whirl around the dance floor. A mother-daughter brunch is bright with “girly chatter.” Adventurous camaraderie abounds at father-son outings. But how many of us have ever been to (or even…
What Do I Do When My Child Just Says No?
Recently we received this question from Michelle: I am struggling with a tween who often says no to my requests. She is a good girl most of the time, but she will be disrespectful to me, and I have no…
The Power of Defiance
Jesus was defiant. He defied Satan’s temptation. He defied the religious structures of the day. He defied legalism. He even defied death. One of our problems as parents is that we treat our kids’ defiance as if it is entirely…
It’s Not Defiance—It’s Science!
Pretty much every kid loves to experiment with chaos: dropping food, smearing things, investigating cupboards or containers, throwing toys — you name it, a toddler has probably gotten into it. It can be easy to get aggravated when your child…
What do I do when my child just says no?
Recently we received this question from Michelle: I am struggling with a tween who often says no to my requests. She is a good girl most of the time, but she will be disrespectful to me and I have no…
When is defiance better than obedience?
I’ll never forget her statement. I was speaking to a grade-school teacher in a Christian school about behavior problems with her students. In the context of the conversation she actually seemed more upset about the obedient kids than the…
How to Turn a Parenting Fail into a Parenting Win
It was a Sunday evening. I was emotionally and physically done for the day and looking forward to a quiet house. Suddenly I overheard squabbling about who was the rightful owner of a large stuffed panda bear. My engagement with…
When Kids Stay Irresponsible
Brian and Jana were very concerned about how much work it was to get their 8-year-old son, Brady, to do much of anything – look up from his book when they talked, get ready for school in the morning, get…
What to do when your kids give you a defiant “NO”
When kids say “No!” parents tend to react rather than respond. Reacting tends to lead to unconstructive power struggles that follow this basic pattern: Child: “No!” Parent: “Yes!” Child: “No!” Parent: “Yes or else!” Child: “I don’t care!” Parent: “Well…