Sunday, March 04, 2007

This weekend was busy! Chad and I got to attend a conference on Friday and Saturday which was led by John Rosemond. His focus was on how to bring out the best in our children and it was just what Chad and I needed to hear! We were blessed to have grandparents to keep our kiddo's so that we could go be encouraged and reminded of where our focus needs to be. I would highly recommend John Rosemond - he is a conservative christian who has a "no-nonsense" approach to parenting...he's very "old-school". His ideas are VERY simple and led first by scripture and second by common sense!

BTW: go to the Siegel Family website real fast to see Shepherd's prayer that Chad's parents recorded. Shep says our prayer before every meal...we're not quite sure why he shakes his head back and forth like he does but it's absolutely hysterical! In case you can't understand what he's saying, let me write it out. :)

Dear Lord,
Thank you for this day. Thank you for mommy and daddy and Shepherd and Sissy. Please bless everyone in the whole world.
Amen.

Here's some excerts from the book: "Because I Said So!" by John Rosemond. Take from it what you want - from what I have heard from him, I agree whole-heartedly but I know every family does things differently so I by no means want to force his opinions on anyone! I'm going to try and write these out when I get a chance (which most likely won't be very often!)...the kids are asleep, so here goes:
March 4th
In the same sense that adults should be intimidated by God, children should be intimidated by adults. One of the major problems in today's society, as educators, juvenile judges, police, shopkeepers, and retirees will affirm, is that too many children are not intimidated by adults. Intimidation, in this context, is nothing more than an immature form of respect. In fact, children are not capable of truly respecting someone. They are too self-centered. As they mature, self-centeredness is replaced with respect for authority. Meanwhile, authority figures-parents, teachers, coaches-must intimidate in order to effectively teach children the social and academic skills they must have in order to someday function as responsible adults. The child who is not intimidated by adults has no reason to pay attention and do as he/she is told. Intimidation, therefore, serves a positive purpose, and adults capitalize upon it for the child's own benefit.
And yes, there is a difference between fear and intimidation. Some adults rule by causing their children to fear them personally. These are adults who do not know how to command. As a consequence, they must constantly demand obedience from their children. Those demands always involve threat, whether explicit or implicit. Parents who succeed at commanding do not have to invest their instructions to their children with threat. They command by means of matter-of-fact exercise of legitimate natural authority. Their children have no reason to fear them personally; yet, their children are indeed intimidated by them.



MARCH 5th
Many children begin sucking their thumbs before they're born. A rather ingenious way of passing the time, wouldn't you agree? They continue doing so simply because it reminds them of the peace and security of the womb. Since there's nothing wrong with thumb sucking, I don't advise that parents try to stop it. In fact, attempts in that direction are likely to create problems where none existed before. Some parents have been successful, however, at gently and patiently persuading infants and toddlers to subsitute pacifiers for thumbs. This makes it somewhat easier to later limit or even stop the habit altogether. In most cases, children stop on their own during the early elementary years. Keep in mind, however, that some very well-adjusted children have sucked their thumbs-privately, ofcourse- until well into their teen years. In short, it's not worth worrying about. By the way, orthodontists will tell you that whether a child sucks his or her thumb has little to do with a later need for braces.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's so nice to be able to do things as a couple and know that your babies are being cared for! :) I've never heard of the speaker you're talking about but he sounds good. That sounds like my approach to parenting as well. Shep's prayer is so sweet! What a sweetheart! I'll have to check out the video in a minute. Doesn't it just melt your heart when your children do things on their own that you worked so hard to teach them? What a blessing! Hope you guys are doing well! Love you, Shauri

tleaf10 said...

ok...that video made me laugh out loud! ... Do you guys let him watch tel-evangelists on tv instead of cartoons?! Sweet prayer - Glad you are all well now!

Kimberly said...

Oh I just love the video of Shep's prayer! It seriously pulls at my heart! I bet God loves hearing his sweet little prayers! And I love that Rauly Amened him! I think I can learn from his passion.
I'm so interested in what you learned at the conference! I'm all about any good advice for child rearing as possible. I think I may have read just about every pregnancy/baby book on the market when I was pregnant and now I'm still clueless half of the time on what to do.

kristy said...

That video is the cutest thing I have ever seen! How sweet is Shep!! And the head shaking just made it even more precious! I would love to hear any tips you learned at the parenting conference. Payton and I just started a parenting class at church and I am so excited about it. Maybe you and I can compare notes :)

Anonymous said...

two words...stevie wonder!
seriously though, he is so cute. I know his prayer was very sincere because his mommy and daddy have taught him the importance of prayer.
We love you guys

Lindsey Eason said...

I'm really excited that so many of you are interested in John Rosemond...he really hits the nail on the head with what is going on with our generations children...actually it's more of what's going on with our generations parenting techniques. We bought a book that has daily readings on parenting skills and I'm going to try and put them on my blog as often as I have a chance so you all can read it if you're interested! Just a warning...he's pretty hard core so for those of you who don't have toddlers yet, you may think he's too strict...I can assure you however that once your sweet angel wakes up to toddlerhood...you're going to want John Rosemonds info!! :)

tleaf10 said...

sounds good! Tell Shep that he is welcome to lead the prayer when we eat lunch. I'll be looking forward to it!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you posted that about thumb sucking! Jace sucks his thumb and I've kind of worried about it causing him dental problems later on. I've never tried to prevent him from doing it though. I know that it's very comforting for him. The only time he does it is when he has his blankie and he's being very still or is very sleepy. I'm so glad that it's ok! :) How are you? How is the pink eye thing going? Are the babies over it yet? Can't wait to see you when you get in town!! :) Love, Shauri