There's a significant difference between punishment and discipline. Punishment gives a negative consequence, but discipline means "to teach." Punishment is negative; discipline is positive. Punishment focuses on past misdeeds. Discipline focuses on future good deeds. Punishment is often motivated by anger. Discipline is motivated by...
Some children have a problem blaming others and not taking responsibility for their part of the problem. In the child's imagination, it's always someone else's fault. These children have the ability to see all kinds of reasons why an offense occurs but can't see their...
Conflict forces young people to wrestle with things in their hearts. Their desires, emotions, and beliefs get intertwined and they often aren’t thinking straight. Conflict also helps teens develop tools for handling differences in life. Three life skills are exercised in every conflict situation: Problem...
Unfortunately, many children don't realize when they've crossed the line from persistence to demandingness. That line is crossed when children value their issue as more important than the relationship. When a child yells at a parent or says unkind things because he doesn't get what...
The most-often-asked parenting question is, "What do I do when my kids act out in the grocery store?" It's frustrating when children throw tantrums, run away, whine, complain, or disobey in the store. It would be nice to have a little booklet entitled, "How to...
Waiting is hard. Whether it’s a new attitude or an annoying behavior that needs to stop. It takes time for a child’s heart to change. Waiting for God to change the heart requires patience, hope, and clear vision....
We all want to be in the habit of regularly praying for our kids. We know that and we should do it more. But what do you pray for. The list is long but one of the big things we want for our children is...
Many parents find themselves frustrated with emotional outbursts in their children and don't know how to correct without getting emotionally involved. One of the key indicators of maturity in kids is the ability to manage and communicate emotions in a healthy manner. But when they...
There are two kinds of people in the world, solvers and whiners. Whiners complain about life, feel like victims, and believe that others cause their problems. If others would just change then they'd be happy. Until then, they'll just whine about life....
Wanting to spare their children frustration in life, parents sometimes step in unnecessarily, but by rescuing kids they may be robbing them of an excellent way to learn. Frustration often provides motivation to children, and a parent's patient coaching can help them experience the success...