Regailing

I "Regail" you with...Thinking Proactively

Proactive parenting means thinking ahead before your children reach a certain age. So before you have children think about what approach you will use for discipline. Before an infant comes on the scene think about how you will manage your time. Before you have a toddler think about safety in the home. Before they're school age think about their education. Before they're teens think about how much outside activity you will allow. Before they go to college think about what you want them to know about dating. Etc. Etc. Etc. Thinking ahead, reading, discussing with your spouse, seeking advice from people you admire, will help form your goals as an effective parent.

The opposite of proactive parenting is reactive parenting. Reactive parenting is letting life take you where it will. You wait until you're at that stage and there is a situation you weren't expecting and then you scramble to find answers.

An extreme example is the teenager who gains weight but never realizes she's pregnant until one day she has terrible cramps and goes to the bathroom and out comes a baby! Yes, I knew a gal that experienced that exact situation! Alright... most of us aren't that bad... but are you prepared for the next stage? When my firstborn was just a baby I began to think about his schooling. Some of my friends were exploring homeschooling and that intrigued me. How could a mom teach her own child at home? So I took baby Ben in his little car seat and the two of us sat in a corner of my friend's living room to watch homeschooling in action. What I saw totally amazed me.

My friend knew her son had ADD. So she set up a little trampoline there in the living room and allowed him to jump up and down while reciting his math facts. This showed me that parents really do know their children better than "experts". Parents are the experts of their own children.

That set me on a research project to read everything I could on homeschooling. My husband and I had a few years to think and pray about that and explore other options so the decision to homeschool, which we ultimately made when he was 5, was a well thought out and prayed over decision.

Now for a refashion...

Here is the man's shirt I bought for $2 at our local thrift store: