Discipline, Kids, and the Holidays. Oh. My! ~ with Meredith Curtis
When kids misbehave parents get upset, and rightly so! In this episode, we tackle discipline, kids, and the holidays. We bring you real-life examples and the results that work.

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During the holiday we are distracted and we want to spend time visiting with our family and friends. After all the holiday prep we are so busy serving others we often forget to enjoy the day ourselves. Yet, in the midst of distractions, our children can be struggling for attention or worse, get into situations that are not permitted.

Here are some ideas to help you in the midst of the holiday so that you can spend time enjoying your family!

* We either train our children to obey or we train them to disobey. When we raise our voice and do not follow through – or train our children to only listen when we are yelling, our children will only respond when we are angry. Pay attention to this and see how and when your children respond.
* Follow through. If we are going to ask our children to do something and they chose to disobey we have to follow through or we are again, training our children not to listen.
* Remember: you are the adult. The child must listen to you – require obedience.
* Teach your children to honor people rather than dishonor and disrespect. An important aspect in their future emotional well-being.

Some parents only discipline their children in public when they are embarrassed by bad behavior. This again trains our children not to listen. Tell your children what you expect, especially ahead of time if you are going to an event such as a party or a place where you have certain expectations. If you do not tell them how will they know?
When Discipline Kids and the Holidays Work:
Commandments: Honor thy Father and thy Mother –

Use the following as an outline toward changing misbehavior in your children:

* Tell your children that you love them too much to have them be disrespectful and that you require respect.
* Practice at home, especially when there is cause to correct disrespectful attitudes.
* Explain to your children that if they see others misbehaving that does not give them permission to misbehave as well.
* Gray hair is a crown of splendor – it is wisdom that comes from living life and learning from our mistakes. Honor of the elderly must be explained.
* Children who act out often have an underlying cause for this – find out why. Is it for additional attention, feelings of selfishness, or insecurity?
* We are children of God and as such are held to a higher standard! As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Holidays can be a joyful time, take a few minutes and explain what you expect to your children. You can also explain there will be a consequence for misbehavior, it may be the next request is a no, or perhaps the loss of time (the time it takes to discipline is your time lost.)