Dealing with tantrums is the part of parenting which most parents dread. They hope their sweet little baby will not ever hit the toddler tantrum phase or the even worse teenage temper tantrum phase.

As a young mother, I was just as afraid of toddler tantrums as the next person. Then it happened, my sweet, good natured little boy switched in to a power struggling animal.

This was my first child, I didn’t know what to do.

I remember one day, when he was three years old, I told him he couldn’t have a certain snack he wanted and the next thing I knew he was in his room throwing his brand new metal Tonka dump truck against his wall. Continue reading →

A Mother’s Question About Building Self Esteem In Children

 “Emma said to me at bedtime that she thinks that she’s ugly. I’m not exactly sure where she heard this since I’m always telling her how cute she is, but what would you say to your kids if they said that?”

 Nicholeen’s Answer:

 I am wondering if she has heard lots of talk about beauty from friends at school. Maybe some friends always talk about how pretty certain class mates are, and she is never mentioned or something like that.

Usually issues like this appear to be self-worth problems, but are usually social issues. A girl who is surrounded by talk about beauty can assume she isn’t pretty even if no one says anything mean.

Many people are groomed these days to base their worth off of feed back from others. If a person gets in the habit of that they will always end up needing low self-esteem help. An important skill to know is how to improve your self-esteem. This skill is essential for proper self-government. We really do have control over our own self-confidence. Continue reading →

The Parenting Question

Justice or mercy? That is the question. When your child gets frustrated at his sister and hits her does he need justice or mercy? When your youth comes home from a date after curfew does she need justice or mercy? How do parents balance these two truths? Which principles are the parent secrets for raising children? Is justice or mercy the key for how to become a good parent? Continue reading →