Ironing Out the Wrinkles of Childhood

"Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart." Proverbs 29:17 

We have two children, both with very different personalities and learning styles.  If you have more than one, I can almost guarantee yours are just as different (I'm convinced it's life's little joke on us as parents).  I remember as a new mom, reading parenting book after parenting book and trying different methods until I locked-in on exactly what worked with my firstborn.  I thought I had this parenting thing all figured out until my second child arrived and my surefire parenting strategies didn't seem to work...AT ALL!  I tried and tried to make her fit into the parenting style I was used to but it just left us both frustrated. I struggled with the belief that I needed to treat and raise both of my children exactly the same to be fair.  There's just one problem with that theory...my children aren't the same and it is actually more unfair to treat them like they are!  I ended up having to re-buy all the parenting books I had given away back when I knew everything and start all over again.

Here's an overview of my two blessings ( I won't use names but if you know us, it probably won't take you long to figure out which child is which):

Child One

• A rule follower so they rarely do anything to warrant punishment
• Loves to please so again, they rarely get into trouble
• Tender-hearted to the point that a disapproving glance can bring on the tears so lower levels of discipline are usually all that's needed to correct a behavior
• Has a heavy conscience and will often confess before you even know they've done anything wrong
• Safety first so that saves them from a lot of trouble

Child Two

• Rules?  What rules?
• Very intelligent and may often use that intelligence to find trouble where others may not and also to avoid discovery of said trouble.  If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, did I really do anything wrong in the first place?
• Happy in all circumstances so punishments don't seem that bad.  Seriously, you put this child in time-out and they will put on a puppet show with their socks! 
• Happy-go-lucky attitude means punishments and lessons are quickly forgotten which leads to repeat offenses and tougher punishments
• Not afraid of anything

One of my children is a lot like me which makes parenting much easier.  I usually know how they think, how they feel, how best to explain new concepts, etc.  Teaching the other child requires more effort on my part but is also very rewarding because I'm learning and growing right along with them instead of staying in my little box.  Anyway, I want to parent both children the best way possible and so that leads to a lot of praying.  One day as I was praying and ironing, God used that ironing to show me that not only is it okay to parent my children differently, it's often necessary.

When I first started ironing my own clothes I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that there were so many settings.  I ironed everything the same.  My motto was, "turn that puppy on high and let's get the show on the road."  It didn't take too many melty, shiny spots on my favorite outfits to develop an appreciation for all those ridiculous settings.  Not enough heat on cotton and you are wasting your time...the wrinkles will remain.  Too much heat on silk and you will hurt the fabric. 

Parenting kids with different personalities can be similar.  If your child is more like cotton (think my kid #2) and you don't use enough heat (punishment), you may fail to "iron out" their wrinkles.  If your child is more delicate like silk, it can be easy to use too much heat and hurt the very fabric you are trying to improve. 

It's tough to know just how much discipline and correction is right for each child and each situation, but with patience and God's direction, I know we'll get it Wright.

Handle with care!