So, after some discussions I've had over the weekend with friends and family about situations they are dealing with with their kiddos, and how they are handling things, I had a thought...most parents seem to discipline out of one of the following:
1) frustration
2) anger
3) a last resort

That is why their discipline backfires. They don't discipline until they are just frustrated, and then they don't follow through.

I have been very blessed to have gleaned some wonderful parenting advice from several sources: the Raising Godly Tomatoes website (www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com), Michael and Debi Pearl's writings (www.nogreaterjoy.org), and some wonderful ladies on some Christian message boards I frequent. The reason these people are so successful is because their discipline is training-based, not anger-based. They are also proactive, rather than reactive.

Almost every bit of parenting you see is reactive. Only reacting to problems, never training to help resolve things before they become an "issue."

This is why the "Raising Godly Tomatoes" style of parenting (training, teaching, tomato staking, etc.) works so much better than most of what you see carried out by most parents.

I am so thankful to be able to learn from these wonderful parents who seem to be doing things "right." Things are going so well with our DD, and it is by and large due to the wisdom I have gleaned from more experienced parents. If it weren't for the Raising Godly Tomatoes website, I think I would be having a lot more difficulty with her right now. But since we are teaching and training, rather than just picking her up and popping her on the rear when we get fed up with her (like most people do) and then sending her to another room to get her out of our hair (like most people do) - we are seeing tremendous results.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this "lightbulb" moment I had of why Raising Godly Tomatoes parenting is so much more effective than frustration-based parenting.

Elizabeth, who runs the Raising Godly Tomatoes website, is doing a wonderful job by teaching us younger womaen who to lovingly parent our children, and how to teach them to be loving, considerate individuals.

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