An Easy Hack That Transforms A Defensive (Angry) Kid Into A Listening (Attentive) One
A timeless, biblical method that has worked since 1000 BCE. (Seriously!)
Works on adults too. No disciplining required! 😉
How to Turn an Angry (Defensive) Kid into a Listening (Attentive) Kid...
An ancient, painless method that works since 1000 BCE (yes, really!)
Hi, I'm Lilly
My mission is to find ways to arm ourselves (you + me) with tools for equipping our kids so that they can be ready to encounter this world head on...
Because real life isn’t always going to be sunshine and roses.
In fact, this world can be quite cruel and broken.
What does it mean to be equipped?
To be equipped is to be ready.
To know ourselves and who/what we’re up against.
A soldier’s job is to be prepared.
They’ve trained hard to increase stamina, strength, endurance, mental acuity, and emotional fortitude to make wise decisions under pressure.
Maybe it shouldn't be that different for our kids
What might that look like?
- The ability to talk about hard things
- To wrestle with their faith (and hopefully be able to stand for what they believe)
- Having boldness to love others, even when it’s hard
- The courage do what’s right even when no one is looking
- Nurturing a love for learning
And if we throw in some ninja training, that won’t hurt either. 😉
Because ready or not, it’s inevitable.
The stuff of this broken world is ruthlessly clawing it’s way in.
Maybe it already has found it’s way in.
Perhaps unknowingly, we, the parents, have already served as conduits of pain, from the weight of our own baggage -- our own stress, insecurities, anxiety, past hurts, pain, broken relationships.
And like water, the trickle down effects are spilled onto our kids.
That’s the brutal reality.
We were born into this broken world and are imperfect people. Even our exhaustion and sleeplessness…. all these things affect how we relate to our kids.
Instead of responding with loving kindness and patience -- we respond with frustration and anger. And not the parent-correct-the-child-kind-of-way, but more like a parent-meltdown kind. (Ask me how I know.)
And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
But you know what? All is not hopeless.
Because…
This blog that will give you step-by-step instructions on how to NAIL parenting AND raise AMAZINGLY successful kids.
Just kidding.
The sad truth is that there is NO guaranteed formula.
We’ve all heard stories of how a kid from a happy, faithful family got ensnared by a life of drugs and addiction. And we’ve probably all heard of someone who, in spite of jailed parents, somehow grew up to love God AND became a CEO, in addition to giving their lives to building orphanages... Yeah, something like that.
So maybe parenting (and life) looks more like this:
And this drives me crazy because I love formulas. I love checklists. I love step-by-step instructions that yield guaranteed results.
Maybe that’s why I am madly in love with Ikea furniture…following directions will always result in a product that looks just like the catalog!
Too bad our kids aren’t Ikea furniture (ahem). <-- And no, Ikea did NOT pay me to write this. 🙂
BUT... parenting doesn’t have to be like playing roulette either.
There's more we can do than just crossing our fingers and hoping for the best...
Two things we can do right now:
- We CAN be more intentional about how we live out each day with our kids and the choices we make
- We CAN lean into the strength of the One who created each one of us, who knows each of us by name, the One who died to give us LIFE.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
So yeah, I don’t have all the answers here. In fact, I've had my share of failures.
But together, we can look to the One who does.
And though there is no fail-proof parenting formula, it doesn’t mean we can’t continue to seek ways to grow as parents, engage in dialogue, learn from one another, wrestle with questions like...
- What does it mean to equip our kids?
- What is success and failure anyways?
- What to think about kids and the digital world?
Do you ever wonder the same things? Great, you’re in the right place!
What you can expect from Equipping Our Kids
- It's a community. Life is a journey. It's always better to do it together.
- I'll write about equipping our kids through faith, learning, character growth, living in digital age...and maybe even homeschooling.
- I write from a Christian perspective (because that’s who I am). BUT, it doesn’t mean that you have to be a Christian to hang out here! We can still have a blast learning from one another.
- BUT, if the mention of faith makes your blood boil and/or break into a cold sweat, then maybe this space isn’t your cup of tea. And that’s OK!
So Who Am I & Why Am I Writing This?
I’m Lilly. And this is my bunch. 🙂
My parents were refugees, and I grew up as a first-gen-Vietnamese-American and married to a first-gen-Chinese-American husband. Together we have an Asian-fusion family. 🙂
I was almost named after the Texas state flower, the Bluebonnet. Surely, to my non-native speaking parents, all flower names make good names, right? Good thing the doctor convinced my parents to name me Lilly instead! (Phew.)
For over a decade (and more if you count our college years too), my husband and I had the privilege of mentoring youth and college students through our time serving in churches and various ministries. We've served in suburbia America, as well as overseas in East Asia, and within the inner city.
And now here we are… parents to 4 kids. (AND shaking in our boots by this monumental task!) This blog is to help remind ourselves of where we’ve been, where God’s taken us, and to remember that even through our own brokenness, we can lean on Him to help us grow as parents while we seek to equip the next generation.
Want to join us on this journey? (Please subscribe below!)
Will you join us on this journey? Please subscribe!
You'll also get my FREE guide:
An Easy Hack That Transforms A Defensive (Angry) Kid Into A Listening (Attentive) One
How to Turn an Angry (Defensive) Kid into a Listening (Attentive) Kid...
An ancient, painless method that works since 1000 BCE (yes, really!)
