Articles (Page 7)

• • • • • Parenting Tip June 12, 2014 Identify the Cues of Anger Helping children deal with anger is an important task of parenting. Many parents report that there is no time between the trigger and the response in their children. Before we can teach children anger management, we must first help them see anger coming on. James 1:19 says that we should be slow to anger. Here are some ways to help children slow down the process.…

• • • • • Parenting Tip May 28, 2014 Anger is Good Parents get angry, but anger isn’t always bad. In fact, parents often get angry when children are doing something wrong. It’s best to view anger as a flag, created by God, that says, “Something is wrong here.” The something wrong may be an unrealistic expectation on the parent’s part, but it’s often a problem in the child that needs attention. Disobedience, selfishness, arguing, and bickering are just…

• • • • • Parenting Tip May 21, 2014 Stop Anger When it Starts The child who is getting frustrated with a puzzle or struggling with a friend needs to learn how to deal with the building energy inside before exploding. We encourage children and parents to learn to stop. The size of the “stop” depends on the intensity of the anger. Sometimes the stop means engaging in another activity or leaving the situation. Other times it just means…

• • • • • Parenting Tip May 19, 2014 Where a Bad Attitude Comes From Sometimes children obey but they do it with a bad attitude. Honor is the solution. It’s important to teach children what honor looks like in very practical terms. One mom defined attitude as “the heart of how you do something.” Obedience is revealed in actions. Honor is revealed in the attitude that goes along with those actions. Often a bad attitude comes from an…

• • • • • Parenting Tip May 15, 2014 Honor Defined in Practical Terms Children need to know what Godly character looks like in practical terms. We love the character quality of honor, not just because God commands it, but also because it has so much rich meaning for parents and children. It can give direction in many of the frustrating moments we experience in family life. In fact, every form of selfishness has an honor-based solution. Honor means……

• • • • • Parenting Tip May 8, 2014 An Indirect Approach to Sibling Conflict One great way to challenge the sibling conflict problems in a household is to play games with your children. Games are miniature scenarios about real life. Whether you’re playing a board game, a card game, or some kind of communication or role playing game, children have to use relational skills. Playing games can teach children how to win, how to lose, how to show…

• • • • • Parenting Tip April 29, 2014 Helping Kids Deal with Emotions Many families ignore emotions or view them as a nuisance. But emotions affect children more than they realize. One of the keys to helping children understand emotions is to teach them the difference between the feeling and the response. It’s okay to feel sad, but that doesn’t justify treating people unkindly. When Joel was thirteen, his dog, Skippy, died. Joel had raised Skippy from a…

• • • • • Parenting Tip April 25, 2014 Keep Connections Open Some of the ways parents relate to their children work against emotional closeness. Be careful not to undermine your own efforts with actions that close your child’s heart. Here are a few examples of things to avoid: 1. Using anger as discipline. Angry responses, sarcasm, and mean words may seem justified at the moment, but they do more harm than good. Anger builds walls in family life.…

• • • • • Parenting Tip April 12, 2014 Strong-Willed Children are a Blessing There’s a lot of talk about strong-willed kids. These children know what they want and are not easily deterred. They’re often driven, inflexible, and know how others should fit into their plans. They have the determination to face resistance, even if that resistance is some kind of authority in their lives. The reality is that these kids will likely be leaders in the future, and…