Each week, I'll be giving away a book. This week's title is 21 Ways to Connect With Your Kids by Kathi Lipp, with personality assessment and applications contributed by yours truly! Enter via the Rafflecopter at the end of the blog post or click to enter here.
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Some of you have asked if there's a "test" you can use to figure out your child's PURSE-onality type. I'm thrilled to say that as of this week, there is! My good friend, speaker and writer extraordinaire Kathi Lipp, is doing a "5 Day Connect With Your Kids Challenge" this week, and on Day 1 she shared this brand new link: Discover Your Child's Personality Type!
Which ties into the hope scripture I've been pondering today:
Which ties into the hope scripture I've been pondering today:
Discipline your children, for in that there is hope...
Proverbs 19:18a
Looking back at my almost 22 years of parenting, I see how quick I was to discipline in terms of "correction" and "punishment."
But if I could go back and do it all over again, I would spend more time disciplining in terms of "teaching" and "guiding" and "encouraging": true discipleship.
Now that they're young adults, my children tell me that when they were younger, they really didn't sense how much I enjoyed seeing them use the unique gifts God gave them. I wish I'd been more affirming.
Today, it's my honor to welcome Kathi as guest blogger to talk about how to...
Brag on Your Child According to Their Personality
by Kathi Lipp
Tell someone else how great your kid is in a way that best suits his or her individual personality.
Make the Connection:
My son Justen is an excellent writer. I love reading his stories. I literally beam with pride every time he finishes a story and have to stifle the impulse to call my friend at the bookstore and warn her that a bestseller is on the way. He's that good.
I could go on and on about how great he is... but I just can't tell him.
Why?
Because he hates it.
A few weeks ago, I said to him, "I love what a creative writer you are!"
He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I don't even know why you're telling me this." As if it were causing him grief to have to spend the energy listening to me.
Justen is part amiable: He's thoughtful and adaptable and nurturing... but he's also very pensive and private and slightly mortified to hear his mom go on and on about his work. So, I've learned that a well-timed "nice job on that" says a lot more than hours of gushing.
My gushing was well-intentioned -- I was proud of him and he really is a great writer. But, my delivery? Well-intentioned or not, it didn't work. So instead of beaming with pride at my words, he scoffed. I now know that for him, less is more. Timing is everything. And my gushing on and on only makes me seem insincere.
I want you to brag on your kids in a way that really makes them proud of their accomplishments -- and in a way that is best received by their individual personality type. So for this challenge, I want you to brag on your child in a way that makes them feel loved, appreciated and proud.
Make Connecting Fun:
It's one thing to brag about your kids. It's an entirely different thing to brag about them in the way that they best understand affirmation. In their personal brag language, if you will.
My friend Cheri Gregory explains exactly how to do that for each personality type in this free download Bragging on Your Child Based on their Personality. A little cheat sheet, if you will, to help you brainstorm on how best to encourage your child.
About 21 Ways to Connect with Your Kids
Parents spend a good chunk of time making sure their kids are okay--they're getting good grades, doing their chores, and doing just enough cleaning that their rooms won't be condemned if the Board of Health happens to drop by. 21 Ways to Connect with Your Kids offers a straightforward, workable plan to create new avenues of connection between parents and their kids. This handy guide coaches moms and dads to do one simple thing each day for three weeks to connect with their kids.
Daily connection ideas include:
- planning a family fun night
- telling your child what you like about them
- developing a character growth chart
- writing a love note to your child
- working together on a family project
Written in Kathi's warm and compassionate but thought-provoking tone, this book will motivate parents to incorporate great relationship habits into their daily lives and give them confidence that they can connect with their kids even in the midst of busy schedules.
About Kathi Lipp
Kathi is the author of seven books including 21 Ways to Connect with Your Kids, The Husband Project, and Praying God’s Word for Your Husband. She speaks 60-70 times a year to women across the US about loving God and loving those God has put in their path. She and her husband Roger are the parents of four young adults and survived blending all those kids (when they were teens.) Find Kathi at KathiLipp.com
Head to Kathi's blog for some great freebie downloads: $15 Family Fun Nights, 50 Ways to Connect With Your Son, and 50 Ways to Connect With Your Daughter.
Oh, and if you haven't already "Liked" Kathi on Facebook, I think you'll actually LOVE her!
Your Turn:
- What specific verbal affirmation do you know really blesses a special person in your life?
- What does "discipline your children" mean to you?
- Anything else on your heart!
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