Page 35 - The Intentional Parent

that the world does not present us with a menu of items that we can choose to be immediately bestowed on us.
Patience, respect, consideration, humility and self-control are all taught around the word “no.”
Have I Already Given In Too Much?
This should be a relatively easy question to answer. Do you...
1. Argue with your child (over everything)?
2. Feel as though your child is always in charge of “negotiations”
and will only settle on his or her terms?
3. Feel guilty about “giving in” but just do so because you want to
stop being aggravated?
4. Get into situations where your child is able to make you feel
guilty about not giving him everything he wants even though in your heart you know you give him plenty?
If the answer to these types of questions is yes, you have a “control issue” on your hands. I say it this way because most parents hate the idea of their kids being in control of their parents’s behavior. We all instinctively assume that this is not the kind of balance of influence there should be between a parent and a child.
What makes this an even more difficult problem to solve is that children with difficult temperaments can make your parenting tug of war a losing battle every time.
The parent who leads with intention makes the understanding of “no” a top priority in how they structure their relationship with the children. And it should be a priority because the flip side of this
The Intentional Parent by Peter J. Favaro, Ph.D. 35