Putting Your Child To Bed

Written by Russell Turner


Are you glad forrepparttar chance to put your child to bed? Is this a great time for you and your kids or is it serious business? Is it a time in your day you look forward to, or do you have to grit your teeth to facerepparttar 139347 struggle? Bedtime is a terrific opportunity for us and our children. Spending just a few minutes with each of our children at bedtime can offer usrepparttar 139348 chance to really connect with them in ways that duringrepparttar 139349 day, which is often hectic, it is much more difficult.

I love bedtime. Not justrepparttar 139350 expectation of peace and quiet after they’re asleep, butrepparttar 139351 opportunities for meaningful conversations that so often arise. When bedtime rolls around, my kids will do anything to stay up later. A function of this is everything that they said or did that hasn’t come up duringrepparttar 139352 day will come out. A lot of times this is whenrepparttar 139353 most insightful questions, problems they may be facing, or just funny things that happened to them pop up. This is a great opportunity for me to hear about many important aspects of their lives that I might otherwise miss. It’s alsorepparttar 139354 perfect time to discuss these things in a quiet private setting. It gives merepparttar 139355 chance to do some real parenting. I can take these opportunities to teach them about life, about God’s purpose, and about their purpose.

On every birthday my girls try to negotiate a new (later) bedtime. They aren’t always successful but when I’m deciding on a bedtime I always make it a half-hour earlier than they really need to be in bed. Then I tell them they can read for a half-hour before finally turning outrepparttar 139356 light. This accomplishes two goals. They think they’re getting away with something, and more importantly, it allows me time with each of them. I don’t feel rushed, or that I’m keeping them up too late. Some nights we can take up to half of their reading time talking about their day.

Saying No To Our Children

Written by Russell Turner


Saying no to our children is not always easy or pleasant. Sometimes it is very hard work and we don’t want to facerepparttar struggle. Most of us at some time will find ourselves saying yes when we know we should have said no. Some people almost never say no. The funny thing is though,repparttar 139346 more I am prepared to say no, and mean it, and enforce it,repparttar 139347 less I have to say it. Children getrepparttar 139348 message. We have to say no to our diabetic children often enough, for health reasons, that you would think we would be better at it for other things. I know sometimes I feel a little guilty saying no to something after a series of diabetes related no’s. But I still have to say no anyway. Parents who have to say no for most ofrepparttar 139349 day will probably admit that they are not enforcing it. They give in too soon. When you do this you are sending mixed messages to your children about what they are and are not allowed to do. There are many reasons why we find it difficult to say no. However, there are some common patterns that we all display at some time or another. These are some common reasons, I know I need to raise my own hand at a couple of these.

 We want to protect or child fromrepparttar 139350 “pain” or discomfort of disappointment.  We want to protect ourselves from facing his feelings of anger or disappointment.  We want to avoidrepparttar 139351 responsibilities of making a decision about an issue. * We want to keeprepparttar 139352 peace and fearrepparttar 139353 row, or other consequences that may follow.  We need our child’s approval, want to be his friend, and fear his rejection.  We want to keeprepparttar 139354 times we are with our child free from conflict.

We can getrepparttar 139355 necessary strength, confidence and authority to say no when it matters by understanding these reasons more fully.

Protecting Your Child fromrepparttar 139356 Pain of Disappointment. Of course it hurts to see our children suffer, but mild discomfort and disappointment are a part of life. Our children will be better equipped to cope withrepparttar 139357 realities of life if they experience and learn to manage disappointment. This doesn’t mean we should go out of our way to expose them to pain. It does mean that beingrepparttar 139358 cause of their disappointment is not something we should feel guilty about. Being used to accepting no, and realizing that they can surviverepparttar 139359 disappointment, makes them stronger inrepparttar 139360 face of adversity and gives them a better idea of which “wants” are really important to them. Going without once in a while helps to develop a sense of priorities and character.

Protecting Ourselves from our Child’s Feelings of Anger or Disappointment. We sometimes avoid saying no to protect ourselves from having to respond to our children’s negative reaction. As parents, we are used to “making them feel better”; but how can we do this without giving in? We can’t. We also can’t avoid their negative reaction. We have to ”stand in” and tough it out. Sometimes saying nothing is best forrepparttar 139361 situation

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