Child Training

I pull out our copy of 'The Little Book of Christian Character and Manners' (by William and Colleen Dedrick) every once in a while.  Not often enough, though.  I tend to wait until I am well on the road to neglectful discipline and then I have a lot of retraining to do (starting with myself!)  I can't recommend this book highly enough.*  It's little and concise, getting right to the point.  It is not intended to be an exhaustive book on child training, but as they put it, "Its purpose is to give parents a Biblical framework from which to view their calling as parents, and to provide enough actual examples to enable parents to apply Scripture to their own unique family situations."  It states things so simply and clearly that good discipline does not seem to be an impossible ideal or a long set of rules to follow.  Whenever I read it, I feel encouraged to get back on track. 

They include a list of warning signs in the appendix which was a real eye-opener for me.  I read it to Gerald last night.  Ahem.  I think we 'failed' about 75% of it.  They list 21 signs but I'll just give you a taste:

• My child whines, cries and pouts when I say 'no' to him.
• There is an excessive amount of noise and confusion in my house: screaming, bickering, crying, hitting, rough behaviour with furniture or toys, etc.
• My child does not come when called or respond to my voice from another room.
• My child is unable to sit quietly for any length of time in a place I specify.
• My child throws tantrums, refuses to eat or do what he is asked to do.

We found that some of the 21 points were not issues with our family at all, others were issues at least to some degree, and others we just had to cringe and say "yes" to.  Ouch.
Many of these things become almost normal after a while and you don't recognize them for what they are.  But the amazing thing is that turning things around is not that complicated.  It does take prayer, a firm resolve and consistency.  I think it's important to set out with the right goal, that is, to raise our children to live to the glory of God.  Having pleasant, respectful children is the blessing that results from our obedience as parents to follow the principles outlined in Scripture.

You can purchase the book here (Canada) or  here (USA).

*I don't agree with absolutely everything in this book.  Just one example...they say potty training should start around 8 months.  I wouldn't!  But they make a good point about not babying a child and holding them back from maturity by allowing babyish things beyond age three or so.

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What do a painter's kids do for play?

With an abundance of old paint brushes kicking around they 'paint' with water from the rain barrel. They paint the swingset, the barn, the chickencoop, their bikes or whatever else they come across...

Or is that whoever else they come across...

"It's OK, Naddie-girlie..."

"You liked that. You did."

She did.

Ugh!