On parenting...

To preface, my dearest husband was hoping to make this topic his first post, but frankly, I got tired of waiting!

Parenting is one of those topics for which we all wish there was an instruction manual to follow. "Parenting for Dummies" would sell like hotcakes! But the truth is, there are a bazillion books out there that claim to have the answers. For every author, there is a "new" idea, "new" approach, "new" solution to all of our parenting woes. I'm no expert. Being a mother to five children gives me some experience, but I'm far from having all the knowledge. Every day is a learning experience. Just when I think I have a scenario figured out with one of my children, another child has the same situation, but the solution isn't the same as it was for the first. Each parenting moment is as unique as that child.

Below you will see an excerpt from a passage my husband recently shared with me that I believe to be the best information I have heard to date... and I majored in child psychology! After the excerpt, I will share with you the source, and I encourage you to track down a copy and read for yourselves, as it offers much more advice than I could ever share here! Enjoy!

"It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a child than to persuade him. Yes, indeed, it is more fitting to be persistent in punishing our own impatience and pride than to correct the child. We must be firm but kind, and be patient with them.

... See that no one finds you motivated by impetuosity or willfulness. It is difficult to keep calm when administering punishment, but this must be done if we are to keep ourselves from showing off our authority or spilling out our anger.

... Let us place ourselves in the service of our children. Let us be ashamed to assume an attitude of superiority. Let us not rule over them except for the purpose of serving them better.

... They are our children, and so in correcting their mistakes we must lay aside all anger and restrain it so firmly that it is extinguished entirely.

... There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips. We must use mercy for the present and have hope for the future, as is fitting for true fathers who are eager for real correction and improvement.

... In serious matters it is better to beg God humbly than to send forth a flood of words that will only offend the listeners and have no effect on those who are guilty."

~St. John Bosco... Liturgy of the Hours Volume III pp 1338-1339