Parenting Tips (Page 16)

• • • • • Parenting Tip October 14, 2012 You Don’t Want to Raise a People Pleaser Many children grow up in homes where parents react with explosive anger. These children learn to make decisions based on avoiding the next angry outburst. Unfortunately they then may grow up to be people pleasers. Anger appears to work in the short run. It gets kids moving or motivates them to stop and listen. But in the end, it damages a child’s…

• • • • • Parenting Tip October 11, 2012 Dealing With Sarcasm Communication is like sitting at a table and passing messages back and forth. Anyone can take a piece of paper and a pencil, write down a message, and give it to anyone else across the table. A sarcastic remark, however, is like handing one piece of paper over the table and another one under the table. It sends mixed signals as the word message is inconsistent with…

• • • • • Parenting Tip October 8, 2012 A Heart Approach is Different Many parents use a simple behavior modification approach to raise their children. “If you get your homework done, then you can go out and play.” “If you clean your room, then you can watch a video.” Unfortunately children trained this way often develop a “What’s in it for me?” mentality. “If I don’t get something out of it, why should I obey?” God is concerned…

Parenting Insight You Can Use Now As children grow and mature, parents must make adjustments in the way they parent. Some of those changes are minor or subtle; others are more significant. In the same way that children go through developmental stages, parents must learn to adapt by shifting the way they interact, care for, and discipline their children. Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, your child changes and you feel like you’re starting all over…

• • • • • Parenting Tip September 26, 2012     Make Mealtimes Fun   In many homes, dinnertime is the only time when the family actually gets together. This becomes more pronounced as children get older and schedules become more complicated. It’s unfortunate that many parents overemphasize manners or food choices or even use the table talk as a time to go over the offenses of the day or to further discipline children. All of these things may…

• • • • • Parenting Tip September 24, 2012 Why a Bedtime is Important One of the gifts parents can give their children is teaching and developing the character quality of self-discipline. With young children, in particular, bedtime is a good place to start. Children often don’t want to go to bed and the continual battle night after night is draining, causing many parents to just give up and allow children to stay up later. A bedtime for children…

• • • • • Parenting Tip September 19, 2012   Teach Children to Take a Break   When you begin to see a bad attitude or hear that manipulative whining voice, have your child take a Break. With young children, as young as two or three years old, have them sit in a particular place, a chair, a carpet square, the hallway, or a bottom step. For older children, you might send them to the parent’s room or to…

• • • • • Parenting Tip September 12, 2012 Other Leaders and Authorities During the early elementary years, children usually begin to develop interests and attend activities outside the home. The circle of leadership in your child’s life will broaden as you enroll your child in sports, music, and other programs. In these situations your child will learn to respond to different cues, limits, and forms of correction from other leaders and authorities. Most children need help knowing how…

• • • • • Parenting Tip September 7, 2012 Be Careful of Reverse Psychology Parents continue to look for ways to get their young children to cooperate. One of the methods some parents use is called “reverse psychology.” It often works, but can have dangerous side effects. When the two-year-old doesn’t want to eat his sandwich, Mom may say in a playful voice, “Don’t take a bite of your sandwich while I’m gone.” When she returns and finds that…

• • • • • Parenting Tip August 30, 2012 The Real Value of Learning To Obey Children need to learn to obey, but not merely to make their parents’ lives easier. We don’t teach kids to obey for our own convenience. We teach obedience because hidden within that character quality are a number of principles that will help children to be successful in life. When kids learn obedience, they learn to consider the needs of others. They learn to…