Lessons from Faith

We flew kites in the park across from Provo Hospital with Faith last week. It was super fun! I had forgotten how entertaining kites can be. Faith had to continually remind me not to fly mine too high because she was afraid that it would get away.

Later, we walked to the nearby McDonalds and enjoyed a treat. Faith played for 20 minutes, by herself, in the indoor playground. She just crawled around and wouldn't come out. Even after we called to her, she hunkered down in the deepest corner like she was getting ready for a winter-long siege.

Rose and I were both baffled. We didn't know how to coax her down. We told her mom we'd have her back home by 6:30pm and we only had a couple of minutes left. I felt frustrated for the first time as a mentor. I couldn't use any physical force since I was only a "big brother" and not a real parent. After an extra 10 minutes, Faith finally gave in after we wore her down--or rather, she wore us down by repetitively asking her to come with us.

I know now that she was just testing our limits. I had forgotten that I used to do having a complete disregard for the nerves of my parents and teachers.

Since McDonalds, I've thought a lot about discipline. Next time she test us, I'm going to try the following:

1. Reward, reward, reward Faith when she does something well that she has had trouble with before.

2. Reward, reward, reward Rose when Faith is being disobedient.

3. Have a serious chat about how I get disappointed when she does specific things to disobey.

4. Threaten to take away rewards if she doesn't comply.

I am still open to any parenting tips you might have for me. Please leave your thoughts by clicking the comments box below.

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Listening to: Jessie Clark - Clay In His Hands

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Listening to: St Philips Boy's Choir - Abide With Me

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