Comments on: Parenting Preview

By: Grape

Grape — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:05:36 +0000

There wasn’t really a bad teenager in the whole lot of them, just the usual….yup…

By: WhiteEyebrows

WhiteEyebrows — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:38:48 +0000

You and FavUnc, of course.

By: tio

tio — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:35:30 +0000

Uh…do you want to clarify who were the terrible teenagers?

By: Grape

Grape — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:35:30 +0000

As I read your blog many thoughts crossed my mind. I will attempt to write something that will make sense. I firmly believe that until one who has not yet been a parent should be very careful of how they might be critical of one who is a parent. Yes, teenagers can be a real challenge, and who knows why is any one’s guess. But there are way to many so called adults out there who have passed the teen-age years,and yet are still screwed up worse than Bill Grogan’s Goat and nearly every family has one or more that fits into this group. Should the parents still have to be held accountable for them? I am greatful that I had the blessing of having six children, and going through the terrible teens with them. Was it always happy days and always sunshine? No it wasn’t, but you know what, we took each sunny day and applied it against the cloudy days and ended up with a whole lot more sunshine than we did rain. Personally, I know that the challenges I had with my terrible teenagers really helped me to grow and have empathy for those parents who had alot more difficult challenges than me. Final thought…I am so thankful that I had the blessing of being the parent of six wonderful children that ever came to planet earth.

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:05:33 +0000

Heavenly Father knew we were weak and sent us 5 incredibly good kids so it is fair to say that we really weren’t tested all that much and maybe aren’t qualified to say all that much. But I will anyway. I have thought long and hard about how difficult it would be to live with “difficult” kids. Here are just a few kind of random thoughts. First of all, teaching them from a very early age that THEY are responsible for their actions is important. Parents who automatically side with their child in any dispute allow that child to learn that they don’t have to be responsible because Mom or Dad will always bail them out. That’s a fine line that parents have to walk because the kids also need to know that their parents will support them, too. I think there are usually enough opportunities of both types of experience over the course of a childs 18 years with their parents to experience both being supported and being held accountable. Second, don’t be afraid to mete out punishment. Just be sure to show forth greater love after administering the punishment. Don’t fall into the worldly trap of thinking that purely positive reinforcement works. It doesn’t. It takes both positive and negative reinforcement. The scriptures are very clear here. Heavenly Father doesn’t just allow us to be chastised by Satan. Heavenly Father chastises us when we need correction because he loves us. Third, I think, for the most part, if you teach the kids what is right, even though they may stray along the way, eventually, they grow up and grow out of it. I know there are notable exceptions. The thing I love about the church is that there is so much help along the way. By ourselves, we would have been abysmal failures. We were well on our way to that before we were baptized. The church changed everything. As it was, we did everything we could which was woefully short and then Jesus Christ made up the difference. So I guess you could say that having kids is very much an expression of faith.

By: tio

tio — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:43:24 +0000

you really don’t realize what you are in for until it is too late and there is not turning back. If i had known it was going to be this challenging I would have thought long and hard about doing it.

By: Annike

Annike — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:54:15 +0000

Yeah, P and I have a (sort of) jokey rule about parenting – if any of our kids get to be serious discipline problems, we’re just going to shoot them and start over. Seriously, though, I don’t know how people can parent without losing their minds…I do wonder if in 15 years I’ll be kicking myself for trying so hard to start this whole process!

(P.S. My blog address has changed – send me your email if you’d like an invite!)

By: MOM

MOM — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:22:37 +0000

All I can say is Parenting is hard……..

By: Debora

Debora — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:37:48 +0000

I’ll get back to you with a better comment when I stop laughing!!! Until then- GO SAM!!!

By: Alanna

Alanna — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:57:53 +0000

Haha! Great thoughts.

Parenting is very scary. Brad and I think/pray about this sort of thing EVERY DAY.

We’ve been very lucky with our first, Allen. He has a very obedient spirit (he’s three, I know how this sounds). But he loves to do good and be good and hear about good things. He’s very easy to teach.

Brigham, our second, is a little different. When you say no to him, he smiles a mischievous grin and does more of the thing you want him to stop doing! He’s been this way since he was a fetus. What are we suppose to do with that? He’s nothing like Allen and we feel like first time parents all over again.

So, we pray, teach them the gospel, be very consistent, read lots of parenting/personality books, and do the very best we can.

For all the angst (and headaches) of parenting, I have to say, that joy outweighs the heartache by a million to one. Then again, both of my children are under 4. That ratio will likely change a little when they’re teenagers.

By: The Lovely Sister

The Lovely Sister — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:52:41 +0000

So you don’t want to come with me to E’s maturation program next year. I would SO freeze time right now if I could. My kids are out of diapers, but before teenagers. I wish it would just stay like this.