Discipline

Help – my preschooler hit me!

This is definitely something you want to nip in the bud!

Here are a few things you might try:

Talk to your child about the fact that God gave us hands to love, help, pray, etc.

Sing “Be Careful What You Do Little Hands.”

Share 2 Timothy 2:24 – “Be gentle to all”.  Make up a song using the verse and naming who or what we should be gentle with:  be gentle to your friends, your pets, your books, etc.

Demonstrate a gentle touch.

Find pictures of children hugging or touching an animal gently.

Pray with your child, asking God to help him be gentle to all.

You might try putting him in his crib to isolate him.  Tell him he can come out when he learns to control his hands and be gentle.

Read Under Loving Command (Children Fun or Frenzie) for some really helpful discipline pointers.

Don’t give up! Be consistent and pray.  You will see the fruit of your labor – the fruit of gentleness which is one of the 9 fruit of the spirit!

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Savoring

She is savoring every moment with Grant. ( So am I  🙂 )
If you are having trouble savoring, listen to this old song by Bill and Gloria Gaither:
we-have-this-moment (Warning – it’s kinda sappy; you may need to have tissues handy)
You can get an mp3 of the song at:
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Happy New Year

As we think of resolutions and goals for the new year, remember to consider what you want to build into your children this year.

Some suggestions are:

thoughtfulness
forgiveness
brotherly love
initiative
mind to work
orderliness
kind speech
redeem the time (use time wisely)
generosity
contentment
gratefulness
obedience

How about focusing on a different quality each month.  Use the word often with a simple meaning.  Point out the trait  in movies you watch or books you read together.  Each month think of activities to reinforce the quality you are emphasizing.  Find a Bible verse that speaks of the trait and memorize it together.  Be creative in making a copy of the verse to put on the fridge.

May you have a year of redeeming the time you have with your children.  Have fun together as you concentrate on consistently and creatively building character into their lives.

Ephes. 5:16 (KJV)
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Ephes. 5:16 (NIV)
making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

 

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What’s a mother to do?

I work for a local school system in the childcare. One of the mothers is having a tough time with her three-year-old son. Here is the letter I sent the mother. I hope it helps her and anyone else having a hard time dealing with a specific issue with your child.

    Dear —–,
    I so admire yall’s diligence with —-. Yall are doing a great job. I was praying about what to say or do to encourage you and I thought I would just share with you some things that have helped me through the years of raising my four children.

    First of all, I had to constantly claim 1 Thessalonians 5:24 “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” God has called you to be —-’s mother and He will do it through you.

    Another thing that helped was whenever one of my children was struggling in a certain area, I would try to find a scripture to help him learn and to pray for him. Isaiah 55:11 says “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

    According to this scripture, there is power in the Word, so we should send it into our children and God will accomplish what He purposes with it. For example when one of my sons was struggling with anger we learned and prayed Proverbs 29:8 “A wise man turns away anger”. Or when they were struggling with showing kindness we learned and prayed
    Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another”.

    Lastly, I once heard an old pastor named Oliver Price say that “God works in the life of children through the parents, and the parents works in the life of the children through prayer.” There have been so many times that all I could do was just admit I couldn’t handle a situation and give my child back to Him and just pray for him or her. Sometimes I think God is saying, “Just get out of the way and let me handle the situation.” After all, God loves our children more than we do and desires even more than we do that they turn out good!

    I just wanted you to know I was thinking of you. I have really grown to love —- and so enjoy the time I get to spend with him. Don’t worry about him; he is such an amazing little boy and I know he will grow to be a wonderful man of valor.

    Love,

    Sheilah

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