Do you have guidelines for childraising?

What, Mom? I'm not doing anything wrong.

"Madelynn, don't stand on that chair"

I can still hear the words I was saying in both of these instances. One thing I found amazing as Madelynn has grown is how quickly the disciplining has started. She is just a little baby and we already have to think about how we respond in certain situations and the lessons we are already teaching her. Before she was born I probably had four books next to my bed that I would read about what to expect and how to laugh through it and how to be prepared, but then once she was born we just went with the flow each day. I never really thought about or wrote our what my goals were.

My Bible study the other day was about guidelines for parenting and in it I was encouraged to write out 5 Guideline or Rules for Childraising. I had never thought about this before or even tried to put them into words. So this is what I came up with so far:

1. Never make a promise or threat you are not willing to go through with (this was advice Bruce gave me when I first started teaching and I think it still applies)

2. Start training your child early in the way you want them to go (Proverbs 22:6)

3. Don't sweat the small stuff --- Choose your battles

4. Make your kids a priority everyday

5. Treat your kids with respect, as people, not as equals, but respectfully ( I feel this is somehting my parents did very well when they were raising us and in turn we respected them)

I asked Bruce what his 5 would be. He had trouble coming up with some. He shared my 1st one (I guess that is ok because it came from him in the first place). I hope he has some I can post in the next couple of days.

I would love to hear from you guys. Even if you are not a follower on my blog, email me some of your guidelines and I will complie them into a list. I am sure over the years my list will change and grow, but there will always be a basic foundation that I am sure we will try to follow.