parenting Archives

Understanding Your Child’s Love Style

Have you ever tried to push a fully inflated beach ball under the water?

You can only hold it beneath the surface for so long. Sooner or later, your strength will give out, and the ball will pop back up.

It’s a lot like parenting.

To explain how, we’ve invited Milan and Kay Yerkovich back to our microphones to discuss how to develop a deeper connection with your children by understanding their love styles.

Milan and Kay explain the coping mechanisms we develop in childhood to avoid relational pain.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting February 1, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Created by God for a Purpose

Have you ever wished you could change something about yourself? I’m sure we all have. We wish we were taller or shorter, that we had curly hair or straight, or that we could throw a ball or play an instrument like someone else.

It’s not unusual to wish for strength in areas where you’re weak, or talent where you’re not gifted. But it’s a short leap from that common desire to losing sight of the purpose for which God created you.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting January 14, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Positive Words Can Change Your Life

My wife, Jean, is a living embodiment of Proverbs 16:24: “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

Every time I call her on the phone, she answers with a positive tone that lets me know she’s glad to hear from me. Her voice is a moment of respite for me in what can often be a busy and stressful schedule.

Positive words bless people, but it’s not always easy to speak them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, family, parenting January 11, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Simple Ways to Love Your Daughter or Son

My wife Jean and I have raised two boys, Trent and Troy. Throughout their childhoods, I was able to enjoy a lot of father/son time with them. Just the three of us. Baseball games. Football games. Camping. Fishing.

Looking back on it, the one thing I would change is that I would have done more with each of them individually, to invest one on one time with them. Individual quality time is a great way to show a child love.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting January 5, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Parenting the Heart of Your Teen

You can learn a lot from your kids’ report cards. Letter grades may not tell the whole story behind your child’s education, but they do give a sense of where your children are struggling in school and where they’re doing well.

Years ago, I started using the same idea to help me better connect with my two boys. Every few months, I’d ask, “How well do you feel I listen to you when you have a problem to share?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting December 31, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Practical Advice for Parenting Strong-Willed Children

Jean and I have a strong-willed boy. Over the years, we’ve joked that we were raising a lawyer-in-training. He could find a loophole in anything.

Once, Jean hosted a women’s tea and set out chocolates in the living room. She later discovered half the bowl was gone. When she asked him if he’d eaten all the chocolates, our son responded, “No,” without hesitation.

“You didn’t eat the chocolates?”

“Oh, I ate some of them. But you asked if I had eaten all of them.”

If you’ve got a strong-willed child, you’ve probably encountered situations like that.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting November 19, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Hope and Help for Weary Moms

Mom, are you tired?

Research says that you are. Studies show that the average mom changes over 2,000 diapers a year, does almost 200 loads of laundry, and loses almost 900 hours of sleep! And many moms work outside of the home as well!

Motherhood can be exhausting. Moms give, give, and give some more. Especially when the boys were young, my wife Jean often felt like no one saw or appreciated everything she did each day.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, hope, mom, mother, parenting October 19, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Helping Your Teens Retain Their Faith

As a father of two young men, the topic of how young people and faith coalesce is close to my heart because Jean and I are living it right now. We have diligently tried to raise our sons to be men after God’s heart. Some days we feel like we’ve hit a home run. Other days, we fear we’re striking out.

Maybe you feel the same way. Christian parents are competing with a lot in the culture when it comes to believing in God and living for him.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, kids, parenting September 25, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Conveying God’s Love Through Discipline

Does this formula remind you of your parenting style?

You probably recognize that from a math class somewhere in your past. It guarantees that every time you add A and B together, you get C. So, 3 + 2 always equals 5. Every time. It’s simple. It’s reliable.

It’s predictable.

Which is why formulas are the go-to parenting method for so many moms and dads. And many don’t even realize they’re doing it.

Here’s the test.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: discipline, parenting September 21, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Helping Your Young Adult Thrive in College

College is supposed to be an exciting season of life. Fun times. Great classes. New friends.

But it can also be a season of stress. Along with stacks of homework, students have questions about the future. Add to that the impact of the pandemic, and today’s college students are facing a lot of uncertainty.

We were able to host a group of interns this summer here at Focus on the Family. They shared some of their concerns with us about what’s ahead for them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting August 10, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura