Thank y’all for your sweet texts/emails/prayers for the Declare Conference last weekend. Everything went above and beyond all we could have hoped or imagined. Lives were changed. Women were healed and encouraged. And 170 people were challenged to know God & make Him known by wildly obeying His specific calling. Thank you for being a part of all that by lifting me up. 

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. . .

This week’s podcast is “Part Two” of the interview with my in-real-life friend, Kris Habashy. (Apparently, we like to talk. And talk. And talk.)

Although we cover a lot of topics today, I think they all boil down to one–a mom’s relationship with her kids. Having watched Kris with her own kiddos, I greatly value her thoughts and opinions.

(You can listen to “Part One” of our chat, here).

What we talked about:

* Handling boys who bicker or fight.

* Should you allow boys to pretend/play fight.

* Training self-control vs. natural angry outbursts.

* Not changing or lowering the standard because of behavior.

* Their family rules for Nerf gun use.

* Micro-management parenting and how it inhibits obedience.

* Playground play vs. playing in the backyard.

* Use as few words (and few “no’s”) as you can.

* Role playing scenarios before they happen (aka, leaving the park . . . ).

* Taking neutral moments to speak life over your kids . . .disconnected from behavior.

* Encouraging your kids even in the hard moments. . .acknowledging accomplishments.

* Advice for those times when you are out-of-sync with your kids.

* The role dads can play in helping moms relate with her kids.

* Rite of passage rituals to help boys move forward into manhood without guilt.

* Speaking and praying vision over our kids. . . even on a really awful day.

Show Notes:

* Pool noodle light sabers & balloons

* Leslie Johnson–previous podcast episodes (Ep 1 & Ep 20)

* Amy McCready – Positive Parenting Solutions

What areas do you struggle in your relationship with your child(ren)? How do you get re-connected or stay connected?

**How to listen to the podcast:**

1.Listen on the blog. Click through to GodCenteredMom.com and click the play button at the beginning of this post.

2. Listen on your smartphone, iPad or iPod Touch – There are a lot of great podcasting apps. Apple has a free one (that I mentioned) in the app store, there is also one called Downcast. It allows you to search for shows, subscribe to them and even speed up the audio. If you don’t have an iDevice,