In getting back in the swing of things, we're back in our kitchen, complete with noisy refrigerator. We share about our busy schedule that kept us from getting a podcast out last week. Lots of spring cleaning, and getting ready for the big Tupperware party. Robin also went on a short mission trip with the kids from church to hang out in a retirement center for the day last weekend.

This week, there has been triumph and tragedy as Robin has been away to be with her dad in the hospital. She also had another round of injections to treat the pain in her back.

The main topic today is Discipline.

Not all kids can be treated the same. One form of discipline will not work across the board, and it's up to the parent to learn the learning style of each kid. Discipline also is not the same thing as punishment. Sometimes punishment is part of it, but discipline is more about training. Find positive measures to let the child excell in an area that they're strong in. Especially when dealing with a strong willed child.

Kids need to be aware of consequences for the things they do wrong, and be allowed to suffer them. Even if it's hard for the parent to step down, and let it happen. It's better to learn about natural consequences, and social consequences while the kids are small, and their misdeeds are small, rather than waiting until the lessons in life are biger, harder, and less likely to be able to recover from.

Robin shares plenty of instances of when kids do sneaky things, that end up with them paying the price. Things from stealing, or littering to the discipline of picking up trash or apologizing to the person who was wronged. Sometimes the nonviolent solution of facing their victim is more difficult to take than getting a spanking, or a lecture from mom and dad. Kids can learn a lot from school, or church, but the lessons from watching their parents carries a lot of weight in how they actually behave, and develop their ethics. At school, we learn how its supposed to be done, but parents demonstrate how its really done in the eyes of their child. Do those lessons match? Should they?

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