Child rearing as easy as 1 2 3

Did you know that there are three keys to raising happy, well behaved and well balanced children? Here is my theory: 1) Activity 2) Discipline 3) Affection. I put affection last because it is usually what we have the least trouble with. It is pretty easy to show love and attention to our children but the first two take a commitment to daily consistency. Activity, I know that is pretty generic but I did that on purpose. Not everyone is athletic so I did not want people to think, that I think, that you have to play sports with your children. Sports are nice but there is so much more out there. Exercise with your spouse and children. You will feel great and get to push each other to become better, healthier and happier. There have been volumes written about physical activity and its benefits so I will not ramble anymore on that. Discipline is a toughy. No one wants to do it but everyone is better off because of it. Children thrive in a consistent orderly environment. Chaos breeds more chaos. I break it down to the basics. I only spank for three things in our house: Lying, disobedience and disrespect. (it pretty much covers everything) My children know the rules. More importantly they know why the rules are so important and this stuff really works. My Dad used to tell me to praise in public and punish in private. Well, that is good but correcting your children in public can be an excellent witness and example to those who have no clue... And there are a ton of those folks out there. Remember, discipline is a service we owe to our children as we are caretakers of them. They are God's children. We must be good stewards. Plus it makes our life easier in the long run. Yes we sit in the front row at church. Our kids behave there "Or Else" and people are always amazed. How can we get toddlers to behave for an hour at Mass? It takes practice and help. A little sacramental grace doesn't hurt either. It is great to have help. We pass the baby (now 2) back to elderly couples behind us nearly every week. They love holding her and she enjoys the attention of someone different. Listen, I know that none of us enjoy spanking our kids. I hate it and sometimes I am just tired of being the heavy but someone has to do it. The bad news is: If we don't correct our kids now... Society will have to do it later and Society isn't nice or loving about it. Plus, society does a really crummy job. As a matter of fact, society will screw up just about everything we are supposed to do but are to lazy or fearful to do ourselves. I'm no libertarian but I know our government is the least effective and efficient at nearly everything it does. I definitely don't want Uncle Sam trying to straighten out a problem I could have solved with a little persistence and focus 20 years earlier. Do it. Love your kids. Raise your kids. Play with them. Spend time with them and they will love you for all if it later. Resent your kids and how they cramp your style and they will mirror that later too. They really do learn a lot from us whether we pay attention to what we are teaching or not. They catch a lot. Good Luck.