Top o’ the Mornin’ to Ya!
TLDR: Christian father shares a challenging parenting moment dealing with his daughter’s homework procrastination and emotional outburst, exploring how seeking to understand before being understood could have improved the situation, offering wisdom for Kingdom-minded fathers facing similar parenting struggles.
What?
Last night, I experienced a challenging parenting moment with my daughter. She hadn’t completed her book report that was due the next day, yet she was playing video games with permission from her mom. When I discovered this and questioned her, she admitted her mom wasn’t aware of the pending assignment. I reminded her that responsibilities come before entertainment and instructed her to finish her schoolwork first. This triggered an emotional reaction – stomping upstairs and eventually slamming a door. After warnings, she lost her video game privileges for the day, and unfortunately, the book report remained incomplete.
Why?
I’m sharing this story because parenting moments like these test our leadership and emotional regulation. Despite my daughter typically being responsible, polite, Christ-like in many ways, this was the third consecutive assignment where this pattern emerged – procrastination and incomplete work. As Kingdom leaders in our homes, how we respond to these challenges matters deeply – both for the immediate situation and for long-term character development.
Lesson
The key lesson here comes from Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” While I made an effort to understand the situation, I recognize I could have done better by asking more questions and helping her develop her own plan instead of imposing consequences immediately. Effective leadership, especially with our children, requires us to understand before directing. I could have explored what happened with previous assignments, helped her see the pattern, and guided her toward better choices rather than simply enforcing rules.
Apply
When facing emotional situations with your children or others you lead, pause before reacting. Ask more questions. Help them see patterns in their behavior by discussing previous similar situations. Guide them toward creating their own solution rather than imposing yours. Remember that great leadership, particularly with our families, isn’t about perfect execution but about continuous improvement – looking at situations where we did “okay” and finding ways to do better next time.
You Be blessed.
When Parenting Gets Tough: Navigating Teen Emotions and Homework Battles
