Matters of the Heart: Children

Matters of the Heart.  I love that phrase.  But so hard to actually uncover, address and redirect heart issues.  Is it pride?  Is it a wrong friendship?  Lying? Jealousy? Impatience?

Finding a verse "on the spot" is hard to do and I often miss the moment of impact... until the Child Training Bible came into my life.  A friend gave me Children's Training Bible (CTB) a while ago.  My daughter has recently started reading on her own and has started using it.

Notice the tabs?  You start with the image below and highlight the Scriptures accordingly.

So whatever heart issue is involved, you can point your child to see what the Word says about it.  My"go to your room and think about what you did" statement has changed to "go to your room think about what you did and see what the Bible says about it."  Isn't that awesome?

Potty Training: The Highs and Lows

This post is not a "how to" for potty training.  It's about the emotional highs and lows that go along with potty training.

(note: for the purpose of this article, I will only be using #1 and #2 to refer to body functions)

Step back and think about this with me.  All your child knows is going #1 and #2 in their diaper.  Up to this point, you have been happy to change it many, MANY times every day without complaint.  Now all of a sudden you tell them to use the potty instead.  You really don't ask, you demand it's time to change.  You rip the "security blanket" of a diaper out from under them.  CONFUSING times to say the least!

So before you decide to start potty training, think through the emotional highs and lows that you and your child will experience.

1) Your child's unique personality.  Is your child easily upset?  Likes change? Doesn't like change? Happy to please you? Wants their own way?

All of these personality traits need to be taken into consideration as you plan out your potty training process.  If your child will be upset easily, how will you react when they have an accident?  How will you encourage and affirm your child when they do well?

2) Personal failures and triumphs.   This is a monumental moment in your child's life.  It's really the first time you are asking them to cooperate where you are not controlling the outcome.  If you say, "put down the toy" and your child does not obey, you can walk over and put it down for them and give an appropriate consequence.

In this situation, your child has WAY more control.  If they don't want to put #1 or #2 in the potty, they won't.  There is really nothing you can do about this.  You must teach, encourage, demonstrate and ask them to do it, but the decision is really up to them.  Your child will feel failure when they have accidents and huge triumphs when they make it to the potty in time.  The unique personality traits of your child will come into play here.  How will he/she handle the disappointments?  How do you need to encourage and love your child through it? How will you show disappointments in the failures while showing unchanging love to your child?  These are not things you can think of "on the spot."  THINK ABOUT IT NOW before you begin.

3) Have a phrase. One of my daughter's favorite phrases was "I don't need no stinkin' diaper."  Besides the awful grammar errors with that statement, I love the empowerment that it provided.  You could see the confidence in her eyes as she said it.

31 Days of Praying for my Child

Long time no see, right?

Why the long break?  Well, it's quite a long story, but here is the condensed version.  I was putting too much of my time and energy into the blog.  I was choosing to work on organizing projects instead of taking care of my responsibilities as a wife and mother.  So I stepped back, reevaluated and adjusted my priorities accordingly.  I have continued to work on small projects but I allowed myself grace to just let things be instead of constantly working to make things better (more colorful) and more organized.

We are in a good school routine now and I am enjoying have a bit more time to myself so I have slowly picked up a few projects.  The first one was to put together a "31 Days of Praying for my Child" calendar.  We, as Christian parents, are called to be on our knees for our children.  I want to be purposeful in my prayers so I put together this calendar.  I have it printed in color, laminated and hung above my kitchen sink.

Will you join me in praying for our children?  I'd love for you to use this FREE PRINTABLE to help guide your prayers.  Click on the link or the picture to go to the download screen.

Download This

 

Child's Chore Chart

I recently implemented a Chore Chart system for my 5 year old.  She loves having a sense of purpose and order.  Just like her momma:)

After reading around and thinking about chores that would challenge her but that she could accomplish mostly on her own, I decided on 5 chores for her to do daily.

-Feed the dog
-Set/clear the table
-Put away laundry
-Pick up toys
-Make bed

Some of these chores (like feeding the dog and putting away laundry) were a big deal to her.  And honestly, a big deal to me.  I have had to "let go" of the way I think it should be done and let her do things her way.  So what if the clothes are not still folded the way I think they should be?  They are still in the right place and available to be worn.  So what if she likes to leave a trail of dog food so that our dog can "sniff out" the food?  The dog is still eating, right?

The bottom line is teaching her to be self-sufficient.  These chores help accomplish that end.