Allowing Failure

I don't like when my daughter has to face the consequences of her actions.  I want to protect her from having to miss out on fun stuff, and don't want her to mope around.  At the same time, when she knows the consequences and still chooses to do what will bring about those consequences, the best thing we can do as parents is stay strong and make her face them.  Along with learning to make right choices, even when it's tough, she'll learn that we are trustworthy and will stand by what we say.  It's important to for kids to know that their parents are reliable.

There's a prayer in there somewhere; it might be for me more than her...

Discipline

...we have all had parents who disciplined us and we respected them for it... Our parents disciplined us for a little while as they thought best... No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  - Hebrews 12:9-11

May we as parents persevere, and may our children be trained well by our careful discipline.  May theirs truly be a harvest of righteousness and peace.