Are You Happy with the Way Your Family is Operating?

Take a moment to think about how your family has been operating in the past week. Consider times when you felt happy and content. Also think about times when you felt frustrated, angry or sad.

When you reflect back, what do you see that has gone well? What parts are out of alignment? If you could have your way, how would your family change?

 Is your child's behavior a source of stress?

The mom of 18-month-old Emma recounted how frustrated she was with her daughter's hitting. When Emma was 9-months-old she started sometimes hitting her mother. Her mom would gently take her hands saying "no hitting" while rubbing them gently on her face.

Well, this didn't stop Emma. Now she was hitting, scratching and pulling hair too. She didn't just do this to mom any more but other kids, daddy and the dog.

Mom knew that what she was doing in response to Emma's behavior was not making it better. She decided to try using time outs whenever Emma hit or scratched and was pleasantly surprised when Emma's behavior improved. Emma realized if she wanted to be with everyone else, she needed to not hit and so she stopped hitting.  

What is keeping you up at night?

Knowing that something needs to change and knowing how to make that change happen are two very different things. One mom knew exactly what she wanted to change in her family. She tearfully described how distant her two children and husband had become. Each one spent a majority of their time at home in their own worlds of TV, computers, cellphones and video games.

(read the rest of the article at Priceless Parenting)