Flip That House Series

"KIDS DO THE DARNDEST THINGS IN 10 YEARS TIME"

Bill Shapino

According to the American Society for Lesser-Known Childhood Statistics, by the time your child is 10, she will have:

* Soiled 8,952 diapers

* Watched 9,486 hours of television

* Demanded 345 readings of Goodnight Moon.

* Wedged 13 pieces of chewed bubble gum under the kitchen table.

* Asked you three times, in public, how babies are made.

* Claimed, on two separate occasions, that it was a big dog who knocked the vase off the mantel

* Sung "I Love You, You Love Me" 443 times

* Launched 53 peas onto the kitchen floor.

* Made 82 claims that her younger brother started it

* Insisted, "But daddy said I could" 154 times

* Lost 29 important phone messages

* Heard you ask, "Do I have to pull this car over?" 37 times.

* Showed you 23 worms she dug up in the backyard

* Said, "Jenny Spitzer's mother lets us" 14 times

* Caught 54 colds

* Shared 54 colds with you.

* Hugged you sweetly more times than you can count!!!!!!!!!!

ƒ{ The greatest, toughest, and most rewarding thing we've ever attempted is parenting.

ƒ{ We've:

Ropes course

Water ski, dirt bike

Built our own house

Pastored

ƒ{ Nothing is in the same category

ƒ{ There's no reference book

ƒ{ It can be exhausting, frustrating

ƒ{ Like the lady who...

o ...just had her fourth child and got a play pen from a friend, she wrote a thank you note to her friend for the play pen that read:

o It's just what I needed. Every day, I sit in it and the kids can't get near me!

ƒ{ Someone said I should have been a grandparent first

ƒ{ It's easier the second time around

ƒ{ But, being a parent isn't a trial run

ƒ{ It's the real deal!

„« Today, we want to give you some important ingredients that will help your children to be prepared for life

1. ATTITUDE AND AFFIRMATION

* Patti waking up the kids saying "Today is going to be the best day ever!"

* Your attitude at the beginning of a task will determine the outcome more than anything else

* Build their self-esteem with affirmation

* With high self-esteem they won't waste their time doing dumb things to impress people because of peer pressure

* They already know they have value

* Your child's judgment of himself...influences the friends that he chooses.

* How he gets along with others...the kind of person he marries

* And how productive he will be

* His creativity...integrity...stability

* And whether he will be a leader or a follower

* Their attitude toward themselves determines how they will live all parts of their lives

o Once a farmer was out working in his fields alone when down the road came a tired looking man.

o "Where ya goin', stranger?", the farmer asked

o The man leaped back, startled, and with a trembling voice and bulging eyes replied, "T T To the next town." "What are the people like in the next town?"

o "What were they like in the last town?" the farmer asked.

o "They were mean and cruel, and I didn't like them at all." The stranger blurted.

o The farmer sadly shook his head and looked down. "I'm afraid you'll find the people of the next town to be the same way."

o A few days later, another man came down the same road.

o "How ya doin' stranger?" the farmer asked, to which the stranger replied, "Very good, sir, thank you for asking."

o "Say, what do you know of the people in the next town?"

o The farmer looked at him for a moment and asked wisely, "What were they like in the last one you were in?"

o "Oh, my! They were very friendly and kind to me, and I enjoyed them very much!" replied the stranger.

o A smile came to the farmer's face and he said, "You'll find the people of the next town to be exactly the same way."

2. REPROOF AND REAFFIRM

Proverbs 29:15

"The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother."

Reads Story (James Dobson)

In the absence of parental leadership, some children become extremely obnoxious and defiant, especially in public places. Perhaps the best example was a ten-year-old boy named Robert, who was a patient of my good friend Dr. William Slonecker. Dr. Slonecker said his pediatric staff dreaded the days when Robert was scheduled for an office visit. He literally attacked the clinic, grabbing instruments and files and telephones. His passive mother could do little more than shake her head in bewilderment.

During one physical examination, Dr. Slonecker observed severe cavities in Robert's teeth and knew that the boy must be referred to a local dentist. But who would be given the honor? A referral like Robert could mean the end of a professional friendship. Dr. Slonecker eventually decided to send him to an older dentist who reportedly understood children. The confrontation that followed now stands as one of the classic moments in the history of human conflict.