“Do you think we should tell the kids what really happened? What they don’t know won’t hurt them, right?” Recently we received these questions when a parent accidentally ran over the sleeping, aging old family cat. What would you say…
Many parents think that some sort of painful punishment is the best motivator for kids to improve their behavior. Other parents “focus on the positive” and offer rewards when kids do well. Research about what motivates workers to do well reveals…
Broken bones, scary surgeries, or moving to a new school — all these things can be traumatic experiences for kids to handle. How can parents best help their kids survive and even learn from difficult situations? To answer this question,…
You have good desires for your kids. You probably want them to learn neatness, diligence in homework, good eating patterns, and all sorts of other helpful habits. But if you are anxious as you try to help them learn better…
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…
I’m often tempted to discipline my children with the goal of gaining immediate results. While this might get me what I want in the moment, it often leads to greater frustration later because I didn’t really teach the value behind…
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…
We love to receive emails from parents telling us about their experience with Connected Families! Here is one we received from a mom who has seen amazing transformation in her family as a result of Discipline that Connects — so…
Terri is a typical parent. When her six-year-old daughter acted up, Terri yelled to get her daughter under control. The daughter’s misbehavior usually went away for a while. Terri concluded, “Whatever it takes to let my child knows she’s out…
A Thoughtful Approach to Whining “Whining” is a common problem whether children are toddlers, or teens demanding to get what they want. When parents try to make the whining or demanding stop, it usually backfires. Consider this story from a…