Discipline--A Matter Of Perspective
We have four kids. There was a time when four children meant an average sized family. Now, that's a large family. Whenever a building contains four, five, or six people living together, conflicts arise. Today I thought about some of those conflicts and how we as parents handle those situations.
We're first-time parents (isn't everyone?) so what our children don't understand (and many times us parents as well...) is that we're learning things as they happen and sometimes making things up as we go along.
I came home and my wife and I talked about some things we might want to change in how we discipline our kids. I thought of something at work. When I ask a child why they sometimes misbehave and they say they don't know, they really might not know. I mean, they only have a few years of total life experience to draw on, and I'm looking at them expecting to see things they way I do, with all my years, and years (and years...) of experience.
Like all families, we've got a ways to go. And I'm sure I'll be tweaking this opinion time and time again, but just the realization that I need to try and see things through my children's eyes will hopefully make a difference. I guess we'll see...
Nice, thanks for the post. It really has given me things to think about.
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