Articles (Page 14)

• • • • • Parenting Tip March 27, 2013  Helping Children Take Responsibility – Part 2 During a discipline time, asking your children, “What did you do wrong?” can help them learn to take responsibility for their actions. Sometimes children don’t even know what they did wrong. You may have to tell your child, but don’t just say it and have your child agree, actually have the child repeat back to you what was wrong and take responsibility for…

• • • • • Parenting Tip March 16, 2013 Patterns in Family Life A busy father comes home from work hoping to relax with his wife and enjoy his children. Instead, he walks into a land mine of relational issues. Children are bickering and Mom is frazzled. Even the dog has retreated to a quieter room in the house. Likewise, a mom comes home from work wanting to share a couple of interesting stories with her family only to…

• • • • • Parenting Tip March 13, 2013  Be a Coach to Your Children  I’m sure that as you look around you see other families who have rather interesting relationships with their kids. Some parents seem to have a boss/servant relationship with their children, as if the parents own their kids. They order them around as if they were slaves, being demanding about obedience and respect. Others act like a policeman allowing children to do anything they want…

• • • • • Parenting Tip March 9, 2013 A Clear Warning  One of the tools of discipline is a clear warning. It can actually be a teaching tool because it helps children know how to anticipate consequences of their actions. Furthermore a clear warning clarifies for your children that what you have said wasn’t just a suggestion, but that you meant business. When you give a warning, it’s important to obtain eye contact, speak calmly but firmly, and…

• • • • • Parenting Tip February 28, 2013  Giving Instructions Clearly  We’ve all found ourselves in situations where adults are supervising children. Some adults have the ability to command attention and get children to listen better than others. All they use is what we call a Firm Instruction, a very important part of the discipline process. A Firm Instruction is quite useful whether you’re working with your own children or someone else’s. Good discipline doesn’t just mean finding…

• • • • • Parenting Tip February 18, 2013  “But My Anger is Justified” Some view their anger as justified because they are right and others are wrong. They believe that being right is the only ticket required to launch into an adult temper tantrum. But saying “He made me angry” implies that external events require emotional intensity. The dad who links the trigger (what “made” him angry) and response (what he does with his anger) too closely ends…

• • • • • Parenting Tip February 13, 2013 Understanding Anger’s Five Causes Some parents have a hard time analyzing their anger to get anything positive out of it. A helpful way to uncover what’s behind your anger is to recognize anger’s five basic causes. These five causes overlap at points and you may find that the situation you’re experiencing fits more than one, but this list is often helpful to bring some rationale to feelings. Use these causes…

Parenting Tip February 9, 2013 Learn to Recognize Emotional Signals The subtle emotional signals you experience many times a day can help you know when and how to discipline your children. This takes some work and you may need to spend time educating yourself on the emotional signals you’re already receiving. Imagine a car’s control panel with many little lights. They flash occasionally, sometimes even intensely. With experience you begin to learn about all those lights and what they mean.…

• • • • • Parenting Tip January 28, 2013   Teaching Honor In The Bathroom  The bathroom is an excellent place to work on honor. In part, honor means that people do more than what’s expected. They look for things that need to be done and do them without being asked. For a while, my (Scott) family had a sign by the light switch in our bathroom that read, “Is the bathroom ready for the next person?” All we…

• • • • • Parenting Tip January 19, 2013    Overcoming Selfishness With Honor   Some parents are frustrated because their children are so self-focused that they can’t seem to grasp the concept of honoring others. How can you help children think about other people instead of always thinking about themselves? One helpful way is to teach kids to recognize emotions in others and then know how to respond accordingly. One dad wanted to work on honor with his…