Have you ever received parenting advice from other people who have never had kids? While your kids are having a melt down or being disobedient, they come up with all kinds of ways you should handle it and yet they have never been a parent themselves. It is so easy to give quick advice to someone else, when you have never gone through their problem.
Making mistakes in child rearing is inevitable, even with the most responsible, intelligent, attentive, knowledgeable, caring, and sensitive parent. Why? Because each child is unique in appearance, reactions, sensitivities, intelligence, personality, energy, genetic potential, and health.
Most parents end up doing a "good enough" job if they:
Are honorable role models.
Provide a measure of unity.
Are consistent, firm, and fair in their approach to rules and consequences when the rules are intentionally broke.
Are real, affectionate, and loving with their children.
Who's The Boss?
Why are some parents so timid about asserting authority? Many times their reasoning is:
Lack the confidence about their rules and consequences being fair and reasonable.
Are moved by love and don't want to see their child upset.
Are afraid of their children's threats to leave or disobey.
They are tired from a long, hard, frustrating week and don't need the extra stress of arguing with their child.
Would rather take the easy way out and give their child all they want.
Are too self-absorbed to devote the necessary time.
As parents, you cannot be your child's best friend during there training time at home. It is your responsibility to train and guide them in the way that you want them to go and in order to do that you will need to become familiar with the word NO! In raising our three sons, misbehavior was viewed as a moral issue of right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable, permitted and not permitted. Simple as that. The goal of our discipline was to teach accountability, self-control, the consequences of wrong choices, thinking before acting and the important fact that they needed to respect our authority in the home. Today, we are fighting the "self" spirit, my rights, my needs, my feelings, my fulfillment, my wants, my way, my happiness, my freedom, and my life. We don't need to look very far to see what the results are to a selfish spirit. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:15 - ... but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. Proverbs 4:7 says, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding."
We should all agree on one thing, that God is the originator of the family unit, and He knows whats best for each of us! Let's make a decision to receive His instructions for our families and operate in His wisdom.
FATHER KNOWS BEST!!!
