Parenting with Spirit

When you're a kid, dads seem full of wisdom and advice. As you grow up, you come to understand the advice in new ways and with new meanings. To celebrate father's day, Whitney and Dave dive into the great advice they've gotten and give some great advice for dads out there everywhere!

No parent wants to raise an unkind person. So, what can you do to prevent your child from growing up to be a bully. Dave and Whitney unpack building healthy boundaries, teaching kindness, and avoiding raising bullies. Most of all, we talk about what to do if your child is the victim of a bully. 

Kids explore the world through play. In this episode, Whitney and Dave dig into specific games you can play with your toddler that modify behavior, build trust, establish rules, and learn social skills. 

April is National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention. Parents share an incredibly important role, not just in the lives of their own children, but in strengthening the safety net for other kids and families. The only way to prevent child abuse is to talk about it so that we all recognize the signs and know what to do when a kid is in trouble. It is also essential that parents build good self-care for themselves so that they are better able to deal with the stress of raising kids without resulting to physical or emotional abuse under the guise of "punishment and discipline." 

Join us for a special episode of Parenting wiht Spirit

Once upon a time, parents weren't concerned about nampy-pampy things like self-esteem and building your child up. Whitney and Dave break down how and why smart parents are intentional about building their kids' self-esteem so that they grow up to knowing what they are worth. 

Check it out if you want to learn: 

• What is self-esteem and why does it matter? 
• How does your (parents') self-esteem influence their kids? 
• What can you do to build your child's self-esteem as they grow up? 

Join us! 

As your kids grow up, they will begin to ask their own questions about faith and, sometimes, may lose their faith. Pastor Dave walks us through what parents can do when their children lose faith.

The hardest thing a parent has to do sometimes is to hurt to heal. I'm not talking about spanking your kids. What do you do when a medical procedure results in pain, fear, and shock. 

Whitney and Dave unpack the importance of letting your child have some autonomy over their bodies and why it's important to give your little's some power - especially after they've had it taken away. 

Let's use a bad medical visit to learn more about when it's necessary to force your child to do something that hurts or scares them and when it's important to let them have some say in what happens next. 

It happens, right? You buy your kid a nice thing and say, "Now don't take it to school, because it might get stolen." Then, what do they do? They take it to school! 

Yikes! 

Let's unpack what happened when Whitney's daughter's AirPods were stolen just a few weeks after Christmas and all the things we learned. 

1. The stuff doesn't matter as much as she does
2. There's a time for "I told you so" (and this is not it)
3. Using a negative experience as an opportunity for emotional growth and maturity (and maybe some compassion)

The thing is that parents are, in fact, human. We are full of our own weird baggage and our own fears. Like all people, most parents have some form of "sacred cow." Whether it is living in a certain school district, driving a certain car, or giving your kids those things that you never had and always wanted, it can be easy for parents to put too much emphasis on the "what" and never the "why." 

In this episode, Whitney and Dave break down sacred cows and how they impact your kids, your life, and your relationships. 

What does it mean to spoil a child? 

Do they go moldy and smelly? Whitney and Dave unpack "spoiled" behaviors and how parents can encourage or discourage behaviors and some practical guides to not spoiling your kids.