Family Archives - Page 7 of 13 - Jonathan's Blog From The Source

MTV’s Insights about the New “Kid-driven” Family

Posted on: 03/29/11 4:28 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Before I dive into today’s topic, I wanna throw something out there. Today’s blog title doesn’t mention “contest” … so I’m going to see how much you guys are actually paying attention. 😉 I’ve got some giveaways for you: I’ve got my hands on the brand new special edition of the classic Academy Award winning The Ten Commandments, the one with Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Pharaoh. It’s just been rereleased on Blu Ray and DVD. I’ve got a copy of each (1 Blu Ray and 1 DVD) that I’m giving away. I’ll also give away 5 copies of my new parenting book, Candid Confessions of an Imperfect Parent.

Winning will be simple. Use the comments feature on this blog to post a comment about the subject at hand today– MTV’s take on the modern family (see below). Do you agree with their conclusions or not. At the end of your comment, you must mention the city and state you live in, and whether you would prefer the Blu Ray, the DVD, or my book. I’ll draw 7 winners 24 hours from now. (WINNER NOW POSTED AT BOTTOM)

Onto the subject at hand:

My dad just finished reading my parenting book, and today he forwarded me a relevant article from Fast Company Magazine, titled, Are You M-Ready (about the generation of older teenagers and young 20-somethings known as Millennials). The article interviewed an MTV VP whose job is to research the drives, desires, passions, fears, etc. in the lives of teens today (so they can market to them).

The entire article was intriguing, but the part I found the most interesting was what he described as “tectonic forces” that move beneath much of what defines the uniqueness of this generation.” The first “force” he described was the recalibration of the nuclear family and, as consequence, the way this generation was parented. Where the old family was parent-driven, the new family is more a democracy, if not even kid-driven. Personally, I totally agree with this observation, as probably evidenced by my youth culture window article this week, Raising the Bar, where I lash parents with questions, asking them, “Have you completely given up?!!!”

Here’s MTV VP Nick Shore’s description of this family recalibration. He says it well:

A century of “parent-centered” nuclear family has steadily been under-going a paradigm shift, and may have just passed the tipping point. The nucleus of the family has been moving towards the child, and Millennials look like the first generation raised in that new nuclear family structure. No longer the hierarchical structure with authoritarian parent “leadership,” the new family is flattened to a democracy, with collective (if not kid-driven) decision-making process. Parents are more like best friends, life coaches, or as we at MTV call them “peer-ents.”

75% of Millennials in an MTV study agreed that “Parents of people my age would rather support their children than punish them,” 58% agreed, “My parents are like a best friend to me.”

No longer is it necessary to “rebel against” authoritarian parents to individuate, engage in acts of self-expression, or push at the boundaries. As one youth psychologist we work with pointed out, “Parents don’t say you can’t go to the party, they create safe spaces to consume alcohol, they say Can I pick you up afterwards?, Here’s money for a taxi.”

Sound familiar?

I’m glad to hear Nick provide some of the reasoning why parenting are lowering the bar. It’s simply because… they aren’t in charge anymore. Little Brianna is in charge, and by the way, she wants the new iPhone… today!

Thoughts? Do you observe this? Are MTV’s descriptions of parents (in this article linked above) and my description of parents (in this week’s Youth Culture Window article) fair?

WINNERS:

Sherri in Red Lion, PA – DVD winner

Danielle in Tyngsboro, MA- Blu-Ray winner

Patrick in Marion, Indiana- Book winner

Nick in Orlando, FL- Book winner

Jake in Butte, MT- Book winner

Pete in Glenwood Springs, CO- Book winner

Micah in Salina, KS- Book winner

Posted in Contests, Entertainment Media, Family, Parenting, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment

Teaching Kids Lasting Values

Posted on: 03/28/11 8:23 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Have today’s parents just given up?

Then why is it that the average U.S. parent continues to lower the bar morally for their kids?

Do you think parents should allow their 14-year-old girls to dress however they like?
Should parents permit their middle school students to download, listen to, and watch whatever they want?
Are parents oblivious of what their teenagers are truly doing on a given Friday night?

Sadly, anyone who habitually hangs out in the world of young people knows that all of the random reflections above are overwhelmingly accurate about a majority of U.S. parents today. (Skeptical? Have you been on a public school campus lately? Have you seen the songs that frequent the typical kids’ iPods? Have you observed teenagers at a school dance recently?)

Is ignorance an excuse?

This week, for our Youth Culture Window article I’m including a timely excerpt from my new book, CANDID CONFESSIONS OF AN IMPERFECT PARENT, encouraging parents that they don’t need to lower their standards. While the world around us is lowering the bar, it’s okay to raise the bar and actually teach our kids lasting values.

Click here for that article, RAISING THE BAR: Parents Teaching Their Kids Lasting Values

Posted in Books, Discussion Ideas, Family, Parenting | | Leave A Comment

Parents Getting Their Kids Talking

Posted on: 03/7/11 1:35 PM | by Jonathan McKee

It seems that I hear it again and again as I’m dialoguing with parents after one of my parenting workshops. “I can’t get my kid to open up and just talk with me.”

It’s a common dilemma. Sometimes it maybe be because our conversations with our kids tend to be like this: me lecture, you listen! But often, it’s more than that. It often can be pretty difficult to get kids to open up.

That’s one reason why we created two new pages on our www.TheSource4Parents.com page:

1. MUSIC DISCUSSIONS:
The average 8-18-year-old listens to 2 hours and 19 minutes of music per day. Parents can use current music to springboard conversations with their kids about what they heard. That’s why we’ve created this brand new MUSIC DISCUSSIONS page just for parents (much like our MUSIC DISCUSSIONS page on our youth ministry website, but quicker, simpler, and designed specifically for parents). Be sure to check out this page, because we just added brand new music discussions for parents to talk about hit songs such as Gaga’s Born This Way, Bruno Mars’ Grenade, and more.

2. MOVIE REVIEWS & QUICK Q’s:
Ever walk out of a movie with your kid and wish you had some resources to talk with them about what you just saw? That’s why we decided to add “Quick Q’s” to our movie reviews when we launched our new parents website just a couple months ago. Our MOVIE REVIEWS & QUICK Q’s page, not only provides the reviews, it also provides questions that you can ask kids about what they just saw. Each one of these resources includes a relevant scripture to help you bring truth to the discussion. Check out this page this week– we just added reviews for The Adjustment Bureau in our theatrical release section, and 127 Hours in our rental release section.

Enjoy these resources.

Posted in Family, Movies, Music, Parenting | | Leave A Comment

Are You a “Parent”… or a “Friend”?

Posted on: 02/22/11 10:12 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Friend, or parent? Which is it?

In my last blog I highlighted the GQ interview of Billy Ray Cyrus, Mr. Hannah Montana’s Achy Broken Heart. an insightful article, really. I mentioned that the article contained some great pieces of this interview worth discussing.

TWO OBSERVATIONS FOR DISCUSSION- PART II: (Click here for Part I)

2. Friend vs. Parent

Part II is more of a discussion for parents to have with other parents (as opposed to Part I, which was a discussion that parents could use with their kids). I find this article particularly timely because last week, the day I read this Billy Ray interview, I had just finished blogging about our kids perspective and the balance between rules and a relationship. In that blog I brought up the fact that we need to listen to our kids, but at the same time know when to put our foot down and say, “Sorry, you’re not going to do that.”

Billy ray seems to be regretting his approach to parenting as he looks back with 20/20 vision. Here’s an excerpt from the GQ interview, where Billy Ray is wondering whether his lack of discipline was a mistake:

“How many interviews did I give and say, ‘You know what’s important between me and Miley is I try to be a friend to my kids’? I said it a lot. And sometimes I would even read other parents might say, ‘You don’t need to be a friend, you need to be a parent.’ Well, I’m the first guy to say to them right now: You were right. I should have been a better parent. I should have said, ‘Enough is enough—it’s getting dangerous and somebody’s going to get hurt.’ I should have, but I didn’t. Honestly, I didn’t know the ball was out of bounds until it was way up in the stands somewhere.”
(GQ.com, Mr. Hannah Montana’s Achy Broken Heart, by Chris Heath, Page 3)

What do you think? Is Billy right? “You don’t need to be a friend, you need to be a parent.”

My quick take:

We always need to be ready to “be the parent” and be willing to put our foot down, even if it means sacrificing a little in popularity points with our kids. But, please. Don’t use this to swing so far to the polar opposite side of the spectrum so that we are never relational with our kids– talking, laughing, joking. It doesn’t have to be “either/or.” It can be “both/and.” You can be a parent, and still invest in your kids relationally.

Last week in a youth ministry interview I was asked:

“In your book Connect you talk a lot about getting to know kids on a one-on-one basis. Do you believe it’s possible to become so connected with students that they see you more as a peer and you lose your influence in their lives?”

My response- edited for brevity:

I think parents struggle with this as well. “If I spend too much time being their buddy, will I not be seen as their parent?”

I wonder if Christ was accused of that when he descended to earth to become human.

There’s no danger in humbling yourself to be relational- to listen, to laugh, to play. The only danger would be if you lower your standards and try to be something you’re not, or allow yourself to do something inappropriate in effort to “be accepted.” This is a twisting of a good thing. There’s never anything wrong with a coach, a parent, a teacher, or a youth worker spending time listening to a kid share their heart…throwing a Frisbee… cheering together at a football game… laughing through a comedy. I bet more kids wish their dads would be there to do these activities. These activities actually earn trust and help the kid respect dad, or coach, or pastor Jason when he has to put the foot down and say, “Sorry, but you’re not going to do that.”

This is a balance we talk about in much greater detail in my parent workshops.

What about you? Where are you with Billy Ray’s statement: “You don’t need to be a friend, you need to be a parent.”

Posted in Discussion Ideas, Family, Parenting | | Leave A Comment

Parenting- from a High School Girl’s Perspective

Posted on: 02/17/11 10:00 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Last Saturday I was preparing to teach a 4 hour parent workshop in a small church in Antelope, CA when a high school girl came Kaitlyn walked up to me with her friend and said, “Are you the guy that’s going to be training our parents?”

How’s that for a loaded question?

I smiled and said, “Yep, that’s me. Got any suggestions?”

She said, “As a matter of fact, I wrote a list of things that you should address.” She returned the smile and handed me a sheet of paper with 7 points handwritten in blue pen.

I quickly looked over her 7 pieces of advice for parents and asked her, “Can we look at some of these right now?” Kaitlyn agreed.

I read #1 out loud:

1. Do not wake up kids anytime before 9AM on Saturday.

My eyes looked up at her from her list, “What time did they wake you up this morning?”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “8 AM.”

I nodded disapprovingly. “Sinful! Every parent should know better than that. Let’s look at #2.”

2. Do not talk down to their kids.

I asked Kaitlyn. Give me an example.

Without hesitation, Kaitlyn’s friend blurted out, “Why aren’t you ever home! Why don’t you do your chores!”

With equal speed I inquired back, “Do you do your chores? Are you ever home?”

“Yes, and no.” She replied candidly. “Sometimes I do my chores, but I don’t want to be home because they’re always yelling at me.”

“Hmmmmm.” I stroked my chin. “So how do you wish they’d communicate with you when you don’t do what you’re supposed to?”

Kaitlyn interjected, “They can talk with me like I’m an adult you know!”

The conversation went on for about 5 minutes as people were finishing setup for the workshop. It was a fun interaction. The encounter with Kaitlyn and her friend kept the “teenage perspective” fresh in my mind, warming me up for the parenting workshop.

A few hours into the workshop I read Kaitlyn’s list to the parents and we talked about some of them. One thing we noticed was an underlying desire for conversation rather than overreaction. And her point #7 surprised many of the parents- a call for consistancy from us in discipline. I addressed both of these issues in the workshop.

Here’s her entire list- exactly as written by Kaitlyn.

1. Do not wake up kids anytime before 9:00 AM on Saturday.

2. Do not talk down to your kids.

3. Grounding does not work.

4. Your family is a team, not a government.

5. Ask God for help when you need it.

6. Don’t argue with your kids. Discuss, and assist the situation.

7. Stay firm to what you say.

I love Kaitlyn’s aspiration for conversation. Yes, I wouldn’t agree with everything Kaitlyn said here, but the point is… this is her perspective. This is what she’s feeling. There’s a lot to learn here.

A few months ago my daughter Alyssa was really frustrated with me because I wouldn’t let her go somewhere with her friends. She ended up stomping off, calling me unfair and marching to her room. A half hour later I talked with her about the situation. I asked her to do something. I gave her a piece of paper and told her to write out, “I wish my dad would just…” and write as many of those as she wanted. I told her, “Tomorrow, when we go out for breakfast, I’ll listen to each one of these.” (We go out to breakfast once a week- just me and Lyssy)

I actually describe the whole incident in my upcoming parenting book so I won’t spoil it here. But it was a fantastic conversation. She expressed things to me that I needed to hear. And, after I truly listened to her feelings, she readily accepted where I had to put the foot down and just say, “Sorry, you’re not going to do that.”

It was really a landmark moment in our relationship. And it started with me truly listening to her perspective.

I look forward to talking more on this subject to many of you in my parent workshops at your churches this year.

What do you notice from Kaitlyn’s list?

What can you do to better hear your kids’ perspective?

Posted in Discussion Ideas, Family, Parenting, Personal, Youth Ministry Philosophy | | Leave A Comment

Alec’s Pizza Thoughts…

Posted on: 02/10/11 10:43 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Many of you prayed for my 17-year-old son Alec and I this past weekend as we traveled together in Chicago, then Wisconsin, speaking together about Bullying… and eating a lot of Chicago area pizza!

I told you that Alec would be chiming in with his two cents about the best Chicago pizza. You’ve heard my opinion on this tasty subject before. Now it’s the teenager’s turn.

Here it is: Alec’s Chicago Pizza Review:

So a couple of days ago I had the marvelous pleasure of embarking to the wonderful city of Chicago with my Dad on one of his speaking ventures. Because there is not a lot of room on the agenda for eating healthy during travel, Dad and I decided that since we were going to Chicago we should try and decide which restaurant made the best deep-dish Chicago-style stuffed pizza.

My Dad is a Chicago-style pizza veteran and already believes that Giordano’s is the best, but since the subject was foreign to me we decided that this should be my opportunity to decide which pizza place I thought was best. Whenever we present this inquiry to Chicago natives they will usually say that the best Chicago-style pizza is one of three popular pizza places: Gino’s East, Giordano’s, or Lou Malnati’s. So we determined that the best Chicago-style pizza would be one of those three, and planned on eating at each one of these “havens” for pizza-lovers during our weekend in Illinois/Wisconsin.

The first night of our trip we arrived in Chicago and HOLY SNOTBUBBLES IT WAS REALLY STINKING COLD! I think that the only other time I have ever felt that cold was the time that I went hunting on top of a mountain during a snowstorm. That night we planned on going to Gino’s East, but after a short walk through the treacherous tundra of Chicago we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was closed. Sorry Gino’s, you lost points with me before I even tasted your pizza. So we made a quick re-route to Lou Malnati’s, and sat down within the cozy confines of the restaurant to thaw while we waited for our pizza to cook. I’ll admit, at that point I was so cold that I would have eaten a live animal just to get something warm in my stomach. So I was positively ecstatic when the server brought the pizza to our table, and it definitely did not disappoint my lust for something warm, but I think it might have been a stretch to call it Chicago’s best.

Don’t get me wrong, this pizza was better than anything that we have here in Sacramento, but let’s just say that the pizza was so warm because of the heavy grease-bath it must have been soaked in! Grease was literally dripping down my hands by the time I got to the crust, which was a little on the crunchy side by the way. Lou Malnati’s is known for using a “butter-crust” in their pizza, which is basically just bread soaked and then baked in vast amounts of butter. Aside from the greasiness, I don’t know how to articulate why exactly I wasn’t crazy about the taste of this pizza’s crust. The best I can explain it, I perceive Lou Malnati’s like a deep-fried Twinkie; I like a good Twinkie, and I like fried food, but I’m not so desperate to stop my heart that I would dare combine the two. Same goes for pizza and a crust soaked in butter.

It was on the second day of our trip that my Dad took me to his personal favorite, Giordano’s. I had heard plenty of my father’s exclamations about Giordano’s superiority over the other two restaurants, so I think it is fair to say that I went into the restaurant with a small bias. But I can tell you right now that it would not have mattered if I had walked into that restaurant expecting to get dog poop on a plate, because when the server brought us our pizza I fell in love after the first bite. It only got better, the first bite catalyzed a flood of rich sensations in my mouth which was near perfectly complimented by the cheese’s soft yet firm texture, but when I got to the crust I was even further rewarded by a mouth-watering melody between a crispy exterior and a perfectly doughy center. The most significant things that Giordano’s held over Lou Malnati’s was that it just tasted way less…greasy, and it’s crust was a delicious breadstick “puff” rather than some freak kind of crispy “butter-biscotti.”

The verdict on the best Chicago-style pizza became blatantly lucid after Giordano’s, because we skipped Gino’s East and ate at Giordano’s again. Congratulations Giordano’s and “too-bad-so-sad” Gino’s East, you should have been open past ten p.m. when we arrived!

Hmmmm.

I think the kid is a better writer than me!

Posted in Family, Humor, Personal, Travel | | Leave A Comment

Tough Parenting

Posted on: 01/25/11 4:31 PM | by Jonathan McKee

A lot of buzz about the parenting style of Amy Chua, Yale law professor and self-described “tiger mother.”

Amy claims to be raising her kids “the Chinese way.” She forced her daughter to practice the piano for hours on end until she got it right. She called her other daughter “garbage” after she behaved bad. She gives new meaning to the world “strict.”

But let’s be honest. Discipline isn’t easy. Maybe that’s why so many parents are curious about Amy Chua’s methods. Time Magazine goes into great detail about Amy’s parenting style in their cover story, Tiger Moms: Is Tough Parenting Really the Answer?

Other columnists are reacting to Amy’s style. New York Times columnist David Brooks even calls her a “wimp,” claiming that she is taking the easy road.

I believe she’s coddling her children. She’s protecting them from the most intellectually demanding activities because she doesn’t understand what’s cognitively difficult and what isn’t.

Practicing a piece of music for four hours requires focused attention, but it is nowhere near as cognitively demanding as a sleepover with 14-year-old girls. Managing status rivalries, negotiating group dynamics, understanding social norms, navigating the distinction between self and group — these and other social tests impose cognitive demands that blow away any intense tutoring session or a class at Yale.

So what’s the answer parents are looking for?

Most parents seem to float to one of two extremes: the ultra tough disciplinarian, or the “anything goes” parent. The tough parent wants to raise healthy, disciplined kids (plenty of research to back up setting the bar high). Sadly, a number of these parents get so focused on their child’s “performance” that they forget to reveal consistent love and nurture. So swings the pendulum to… the “anything goes” parent– a severe over-reaction. This parent feels that any discipline is lacking in love and nurture, so… anything goes.

I’ve seen kids from both extremes.

I’ll be honest. I’m biased. I’m a recovering “ultra tough disciplinarian. I was always very strict with my kids, all under the umbrella of love. That’s easy to “just say,” by the way. Many strict parents claim, “Oh, my kids know that the reason I am so strict is because I love them.” Oh, really? When is the last time you told them that. Better yet… when is the last time they perceived that?

I know this well, because at times, I was waaaaaay to hard on my son Alec. Yes, he was in need of discipline. And yes, I meant well. But the bottom line was, he wasn’t feeling very loved when Dad was always talking in harsh tones.

Sorry. Tough love expressed as just “tough” is not good enough. Love also needs to be expressed by noticing, listening, and investing. These activities might be as simple as hanging out with our kids and having conversations with them (not one-way conversations).

I’m still strict. But I’m also very relational with my kids now. Parents can’t expect to enforce rules without a relationship. It’s only out of the hours of time I spend with my kids laughing, talking, and just “hanging out” that I’ve earned the respect from them when I say, “No.” It’s a tough balancing act. And I’ve learned a few tricks to avoid always saying, “No.” Sometimes I ask them questions and lead them to discover the answer by themselves (I go into more detail about this in my discipline chapter in my new parenting book coming out this Spring).

Right now on our TheSource4Parents.com site we are featuring a helpful article about discipline from my friend Jim Burns.

Which way do you lean? Are you a tough parent, or anything goes?

Posted in Discussion Ideas, Family, Parenting, Personal | | Leave A Comment

20 Years

Posted on: 01/21/11 11:56 AM | by Jonathan McKee

21 years ago, when I was 19-years-old and home from college on break, I saw this 19-year-old brunette walk into my home church’s college group and quietly sit in the corner. I thought, “Wow!”

5 months later, when I got back from school, I asked her out.

3 months later we were engaged.

6 months later we were married.

That was 20 years ago.

Lori is amazing. We got married as two kids (I was 20, she was 21). Now, we have three teenagers of our own, and one of them is about ready to go to college. I am so in love with this girl!

I’m not going to be tending to emails/blog for next week. We’re out celebrating 20-years in an undisclosed tropical location (plenty of sand, waves and palm trees).

I can’t wait for the next 20 years with this girl!

Posted in Family, Marriage, Personal | | Leave A Comment

Stimulating Meetings

Posted on: 01/10/11 3:15 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I’m in TX right now co-keynoting with my dad at a conference for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. It’s kinda fun sharing the stage with my dad, talking about recruiting, training and managing this “New Breed” (the title of our book together) of volunteers in ministry today.

My dad just posted a new Feature Article on his free Volunteer Power website, an article about how to run a stimulating and motivating meeting with your staff, paid and unpaid. Here’s just a glimpse:

A great way to start the New Year is with energizing and stimulating staff meetings. Actually, invigorating staff meetings are great any time of the year, but I am always looking for ways to engage my paid and non-paid staff in a productive discussion to set the tone and opportunities for the new year. The rousing discussion part is not hard because most people are ready to share their opinions on most topics. What proves to be a constant challenge is the productive part. Leaders strive to have each participant walk away with some significant “take-aways that they are motivated to put to immediate use.

One way to focus your discussion is to hand out a relevant, short, informational, and motivating discussion starter. Give each staff member five to ten minutes to read the hand-out at the beginning of the meeting. A couple of years ago I had the staff over to my home for the morning. After I served them food, I handed out a short article with a few discussion questions. I was lucky in that we had a wonderful warm day (rare in Northern California for January) and they spread out all over the back yard to read and reflect. I encouraged them to mark up the article, question it, underline and circle sections or key thoughts. Then they took another ten minutes…

Good stuff. Click here for the whole article.

This reminds me of the some of the training tool ideas we offered you on this page, How to Train Your Own Volunteers. Hopefully both of these are good resources for you as you seek to equip your team in 2011.

Posted in Family, Personal, Speaking/Training | | Leave A Comment

Ashley’s Attitude

Posted on: 12/31/10 1:48 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Of my three kids, Ashley (my 13-year-old) is the one that has turned out the most like me. She’s actually a very good kid compared to what I was at her age, but she reeks of my adolescent attitude and sarcasm.

I have to share you an “essay” I made her write when I busted her on Christmas Eve. I don’t need to tell you many of the details– Ashley provides all of them in her paper (dripping with sarcasm!) The skinny of the situation was, she didn’t want to dress up for the Christmas Eve service, and we told her to. She ended up getting assigned “a chore” (when my kids smart-off or argue, I assign them an extra “chore” as punishment), and eventually the ultimate bad punishment in my house– having to write a paper. When my kids get in big trouble, I assign them an essay. (I’m a slave-driver!)

Here’s Ashley’s paper. She opted to write it as a fictional narrative. I think it pretty well sums it all up.

“Abbey, go put on your dress for the service.” Mrs. Flop yelled.

“Okay mom!” Abbey replied.

She began to pull on her ugly sweater-dress and black tights. She hated having to dress up. When she was finished, Abbey walked downstairs.

“Oh Abbey, you look just gorgeous!” her mom exclaimed.

“Gee, thanks.” Abbey sarcastically replied, staring at her uncomfortable and ugly outfit in the mirror.

“And don’t forget, you can’t take it off at all, even when you get home from the service. I want you to look nice on Christmas!” her mom said.

“What?!” Abbey yelled, “This is the most uncomfortable, ugly, stupid outfit in the world!”

Abbey’s dad poked his head in the room and said, “That’s a chore young lady!”

Abbey wanted to scream. Never before had her parents made her do this. It was so dumb.

Just then, Abbey’s brother Alex strutted in the door wearing jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and converse; an outfit that he wore to school all the time. “Oh Alex, you look handsome!” her parents said.

“Oh my gosh!” Abbey yelled, “Why does he get to wear that?”

Abbey’s dad turned his head toward her, “Not another word from you! And that’s another chore!” Abbey walked upstairs to her room and closed the door. (Ashley emphasized closed in bold and underline)

“Abby. Come downstairs right now! Her dad yelled “You are going to write a paper on your attitude!” I’ve told you a million times not to slam your door!”

Abbey exclaimed, “But I didn’t even slam my door!”

“Yes, you did. Now go write that paper!” he retorted quickly.

Abbey marched into her room and closed her door silently.

Was Abbey right for mouthing off to her parents? Of course not: she should have respectfully argued with her mom about why she really didn’t want to have to wear that uncomfortable outfit all night long. Around Christmas time (actually, all the time), children like Abbey should not be mad at their parents for making them wear their outfits all right; no matter how uncomfortable they are. Children need to remember that dressing up is a way of respecting Jesus. And around Christmas, respecting and rejoicing in the birth of their Lord and savior. Also, kids need to respect their parent’s decisions because they are in charge and they know what is best for them. So no matter how frustrated Abbey was, she should have respected her parents and been a loving and good child.

Classic!

Yes… Ashley would agree that my upcoming parenting book is appropriately titled, “Candid Confessions of an IMPERFECT Parent.”

Posted in Family, Humor, Parenting, Personal | | Leave A Comment