With my older children, I would yell at them to stop doing this or that. I would threaten them with taking a toy away or worse...wait until your father gets home! And I would spank. Correction is not what I'm going to address today, though. That is a post for another day...
What I really want you to know today, mama, is that we all get stressed. We all have troubled days. None of us ever has perfect days all the time. And, just like any other time when we seize the moments we can teach our children something valuable, a day like I just mentioned is a great day to show by example how to respond.
Sometimes we have a bad attitude. We get frustrated with something or someone and we just want to throw in the towel on everything...homeschooling, child rearing, cleaning, etc. But this is a great time to teach our children some character traits. Yes, we've gotten frustrated, but now what? Well, take a timeout. Tell the kids why you are in need of a timeout and step away for a few minutes. (Never leave the house or leave small children unattended!). Be honest with your children. They understand so much more than we give them credit for. "Mommy has a bad attitude and I need to sit in the bathroom on a timeout for 5 minutes." This is a great time to be in prayer, too. When the allotted time has passed, come out and ask your children to forgive your for your bad attitude. This does 2 things: It shows them that it's okay to have a bad attitude every now and then. But it is NOT okay to continue to have a bad attitude and that it must be changed. Plus, you're teaching your children to be humble and to forgive!
Lyn~
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