Cheerful Childrearing

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originally uploaded by lilit

When the doctor hands the baby to a brand new Mommy and Daddy, he hands them both a daunting duty and an unspeakable joy. They now must navigate the waters of sleep training, solids introduction, potty training, toddler discipline, and a million other parenting tasks.

According to Michael Pearl in The Joy of Training, they'll need three things to accomplish their parenting task well: cheerfulness, authority, and consistency. Of those three, only one is unteachable. Young parents tend to grow in authority and consistency as their children grow, but cheerfulness is a raw ingredient.


And what an important ingredient it is! "Training without joy is tyranny" says Mr. Pearl, and, as one whose natural tendency is to focus on the training and sometimes forget the joy, I have to admit he's right. Whether in a classroom full of 8th graders or babysitting my energetic 4 year old niece or watching my own 10 month old, "children will do [almost] anything for someone who enjoys them." (The Joy of Training).

So if the day-to-day of parenting has got you down, give your baby a good tickle and study his little hands and feet and remember what a sweet gift from God he is. It'll make the day a lot more fun, and even make training easier!

RESOURCES
The Joy of Training
On Becoming Toddlerwise