Posts by admin (Page 11)

Allow Life to Be the Teacher

• • • • • Parenting Tip October 10, 2013 Allow Life to Be the Teacher When children experience problems in life, some whine and complain or have bad attitudes. But problems and decisions make great opportunities to teach children to face life’s challenges. Wanting to spare their children frustration in life, parents sometimes step in unnecessarily, but by rescuing kids they may be robbing them of learning opportunities. Frustration often provides motivation to children, and a parent’s patient coaching…

Desire and Temptation

• • • • • Parenting Tip October 3, 2013 Desire and Temptation We all wish our children would desire the right things in life and avoid tempting situations. Desires reside in the heart and can be good or bad. Psalm 37:4 tells us “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Knowing the difference between a healthy desire and a temptation, however, can be a challenge at times, especially for kids. A…

Addressing Sibling Conflict

• • • • • Parenting Tip September 26, 2013 Addressing Sibling Conflict When kids fight it’s best to work with them separately because each child needs a specific plan for dealing with the other. Furthermore, trying to train them at the same time often results in resistance or even allowing kids to gang up on you, hindering the process. Here are some other ideas for addressing sibling conflict that you might find helpful. Parenting Rules for Addressing Sibling Conflict…

When Giving Instructions, Consider the Timing

• • • • • Parenting Tip September 21, 2013 When Giving Instructions, Consider the Timing An important step in a good instruction routine is to consider timing. Parents who realize that a child needs an instruction must stop and think of the best way to present it. Ask yourself, “How can I communicate this problem to my child in the most effective way?” Pausing for just a moment, or in some cases, waiting a few hours, may prove to…

When Children Resist Instructions

• • • • • Parenting Tip September 17, 2013 When Children Resist Instructions When a child continually demonstrates resistance to instructions, then it’s time to decide whether you need to emphasize relationship more or you need to discipline for a lack of responsiveness. Sometimes we take our children for granted, order them around, and don’t appreciate them enough. The result is children who tend to resist instructions. If that’s the case in your family then it’s time to show…

Teens Need Relationship

• • • • • Parenting Tip September 10, 2013 Teens Need Relationship Getting physically close to your child is important when giving instructions, especially with teenagers. Teens need relationship whether they’ll admit it or not. In fact, the stronger the relationship, the less likely you’ll get resistance. Sometimes young people resent having to share in the workload of running a household. You might hear them say something like, “My parents are always ordering me around. It’s like I’m their…

iHATE

I hate my toe! It’s purple and swollen and bloody. I think it’s broken but I’ve never seen a toe cast so I’m not going to bother having it examined, it throbs enough already. The pain is creating a limp in my walk and putting on socks takes forever. I’ll probably lose the toenail. Feet are disgusting enough already, who needs toes anyway? I hate tent stakes! I jumped out of my hammock and ran to my backpack, tripping over…

Giving Instructions

• • • • • Parenting Tip August 29, 2013 Giving Instructions The word “instruction” comes from the words “in” and “structure” and basically means “to put structure into.” When someone comes on the scene and gives instructions, that person brings structure to the situation and helps people know what to do. Dad or Mom sees the need to clean up around the house or get ready to go out and begins giving instructions to move the family in a…

When Kids Want to Fight

• • • • • Parenting Tip August 23, 2013 When Kids Want to Fight When children are unhappy they look for ways to draw their parents into a fight. Kids know just where your buttons are and how to push them to make you angry. “Dad wouldn’t do it that way,” or “You never let me have fun,” might be all that’s needed to create the volcano effect. When children get angry and are looking for a fight, it’s…

The Unmotivated Child

• • • • • Parenting Tip August 20, 2013 The Unmotivated Child Unmotivated children are generally passive, cooperative, flexible, easygoing, and accommodating. These children may be easier to get along with because they lack the drive of strong-willed kids, but parents also struggle with these children at times. They may not have the fortitude to stand up for themselves, withstand temptation, or push hard to complete a task. They’re sometimes people-pleasers and may be easily directed in positive or…