Discipline and Children

Greetings once again. I borrowed a computer from school and I am sitting at Caribou using their wireless network while I wait to get Charity from church. WOW! I could get spoiled compared to my dial-up at home.

Anyway, our church is doing a three week series on parenting called Parenting Paramedics. The first week was about setting limits and that we often feel guilty by the lack of time that we spend with kids and lavish them with gifts. Kids thrive with equal amounts of love and limits. See the video of the sermon for all the juicy details.

I know that this is a skill that I need to work on. I tend to set limits without love - I have the opposite problem. So, last night when I used my "go out for dinner" card - pretty sad since it was only Tuesday-we experienced a discipline issue that we would have handled totally differently. A little girl about 3 or 4 years old was whining and demanding to sit at a different table then the table the server put them at. She refused to go sit with her parents. The dad was trying to negotiate with the child to get her to sit with them. The mom was on her cellphone and the grandparent was just staying out of the whole thing. The dad picked up the girl and she immediately returned to the other table, pointed and said "Sit here" repeatedly. What would you have done?

We were amazed when the entire family moved to the table the little girl wanted to sit at! Who is in control? Just imagine what is going to happen to this girl at age 14 when she has no boundaries! I just remember when Charity would throw a tantrum at the grocery store if I said no to candy. I left her screaming in the aisle one time - just walked away! I am sure the other customers enjoyed the screaming - but she stopped as soon as I was out of sight. Kids thrive with boundaries. Just something to think about.

Thanks for reading!

Cyndee