Daly Focus Blog
You can learn a lot from your kids’ report cards. Letter grades may not tell the whole story behind your child’s education, but they do give a sense of where your children are struggling in school and where they’re doing well.
Years ago, I started using the same idea to help me better connect with my two boys. Every few months, I’d ask, “How well do you feel I listen to you when you have a problem to share?
Jean and I have a strong-willed boy. Over the years, we’ve joked that we were raising a lawyer-in-training. He could find a loophole in anything.
Once, Jean hosted a women’s tea and set out chocolates in the living room. She later discovered half the bowl was gone. When she asked him if he’d eaten all the chocolates, our son responded, “No,” without hesitation.
“You didn’t eat the chocolates?”
“Oh, I ate some of them. But you asked if I had eaten all of them.”
If you’ve got a strong-willed child, you’ve probably encountered situations like that.
Mom, are you tired?
Research says that you are. Studies show that the average mom changes over 2,000 diapers a year, does almost 200 loads of laundry, and loses almost 900 hours of sleep! And many moms work outside of the home as well!
Motherhood can be exhausting. Moms give, give, and give some more. Especially when the boys were young, my wife Jean often felt like no one saw or appreciated everything she did each day.
As a father of two young men, the topic of how young people and faith coalesce is close to my heart because Jean and I are living it right now. We have diligently tried to raise our sons to be men after God’s heart. Some days we feel like we’ve hit a home run. Other days, we fear we’re striking out.
Maybe you feel the same way. Christian parents are competing with a lot in the culture when it comes to believing in God and living for him.
Does this formula remind you of your parenting style?
You probably recognize that from a math class somewhere in your past. It guarantees that every time you add A and B together, you get C. So, 3 + 2 always equals 5. Every time. It’s simple. It’s reliable.
It’s predictable.
Which is why formulas are the go-to parenting method for so many moms and dads. And many don’t even realize they’re doing it.
Here’s the test.
College is supposed to be an exciting season of life. Fun times. Great classes. New friends.
But it can also be a season of stress. Along with stacks of homework, students have questions about the future. Add to that the impact of the pandemic, and today’s college students are facing a lot of uncertainty.
We were able to host a group of interns this summer here at Focus on the Family. They shared some of their concerns with us about what’s ahead for them.
To raise happy, healthy children, remember this: Rules alone won’t work.
Rules only control a child’s outer behavior. To develop a child’s inner character, you have to go deeper. Until children develop an inner motivation to do the right thing, they’ll keep sticking their toe over the line.
Like a friend of mine’s five-year-old daughter. They were playing together in the front yard. “Stay in the grass,” he told her. “Don’t step onto the sidewalk or the driveway.” The little girl looked her dad right in the eye, playfully danced to the edge of the grass … and stuck her big toe across the forbidden line.
When times are hard, it’s important to enjoy some laughter.
That’s what we have in store with our guest Kenn Kington, our guest on the Focus on the Family Broadcast “Kids: You Gotta Love Em.”
Kenn is a popular comedian and motivational speaker who has quite a knack for finding the humor in everyday moments with his wife and three kids.
I know you’ll enjoy his message. It’s fun. Yet it communicates an important point: Children mimic us!
I suspect few parents see the Bible as a parenting manual,
but its pages are nevertheless brimming with good and practical counsel – made
even more incredible given the book’s age.
From warning fathers to not exasperate their children
(Ephesians 6:4) to encouraging discipline in the inevitable event of unruly
children (Hebrews 12:11, Proverbs 29:17), the Scriptures have answers to the
challenges that moms and dads are facing.
Sometimes, though, the advice shows up in seemingly unlikely
places.
Home improvement is more popular than ever.
Well, for a lot of you, anyway. I have to be honest. Home renovation scares the daylights out of me. To say I don’t have an aptitude for it is an understatement.
A few years ago, Jean and I had a contractor come to our home to assess some water damage. Water got inside one of our window wells after the cover peeled away. The guy looked things over and said, “This is a simple fix.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
