Tag Archive - Toddlers

On Separation Anxiety

September 15, 2010 in Uncategorized with 5 Comments

It is natural for young children to feel anxious when you drop them off at the nursery or say goodbye.  Although this can be very difficult for parents, it is a normal stage of development.  With understanding, patience, love, faith and trust, it can be relieved and should lessen and fade as your child gets older.

In the early stages of childhood, crying, tantrums or clinging to father and mother are actually healthy reactions to separation.  Separation anxiety can begin before a child’s first birthday and pop up again or last until a child is four years old, but both the intensity level and timing of separation anxiety vary tremendously from child to child.  One way you, as the parent, can ease your child’s anxiety is by staying patient, loving, and consistent and by gently and firmly setting limits. Continue Reading…

Toddlers Need the Gospel

September 8, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Jay Younts on why the gospel matters for your toddler:

Parents who view presenting the gospel as primarily information transfer will lack a sense of urgency. I do not mean that this parent is unconcerned about the spiritual condition of his child. He may be deeply concerned. However, seeing the presentation of the gospel as transfer of information means waiting for when the child is willing to engage in this transfer. The parent who sees the presentation of the gospel as one of search and rescue will have an immediate sense of urgency. Thus, even before the toddler can speak, he will be interacting with parents who see the gospel as the most important reality of life. This child will hear his parents passionately talking to others about the gospel. He will hear his own actions explained in terms of his need of the gospel even before he can articulate a response. He will see and hear that his parents are driven by truths that transcend the temporal. This is the process outlined in Deuteronomy 6. The very thoughts of God, revealed in Scripture, are graven into the hearts of this toddler’s parents. These parents are gripped by God’s call to rescue the lost. This mission defines these parents. This is an immense blessing to our toddler. He is being raised by parents whose mission in life coincides with God’s purpose for each day. That purpose, at least in part, is to bring honor to his great name through the rescue of the lost.

Practically this toddler will hear often of the wonder of Jesus Christ. His parents will see his sin as an opportunity to present the gospel to him and not merely to correct his behavior. He will live in a home that is focused on the wonder of a God who forgives sins. This focus leads to joy. Joy comes from the reality that Jesus is our effective and loving high priest. Living for the gospel means living with joy.

So, when this toddler spills a cup of milk because he is still learning how to handle a cup, he is not scolded. His parents speak lovingly and reassuringly to him. They help him learn to handle the cup with more precision. He knows that he is more valuable than spilt milk. He is lovingly disciplined when he sins, but he is also lovingly embraced when he acts like a 2 year old. He is on the road to knowing what it means to be loved and being secure. The gospel matters to his parents. In time, Lord willing, the gospel will also matter to him.

HT: Doug Wolter: Life2gether.

Piper: How did you do family devotions when your kids were really little?

April 8, 2009 in Uncategorized with 2 Comments

Early this morning Bryce Butler sent me an article from John Piper on leading family devotions with the very young.  The Desiring God site has the complete article and audio to download.  Here are some of the best excerpts:

From the family standpoint there would always be a time to meet. It was at the breakfast table in those early days. So you have a child who is now rested—at least it’s the way it worked for our boys and Talitha—they were rested and had a full tummy. So they were relatively happy.

And at that moment Daddy gets out a big book. And he reads from it, a paragraph maybe. This little child doesn’t understand anything I’m saying. He’s six months old, or nine months, or a year.

He doesn’t understand anything I’m saying, but he’s learning big time what is going on here: he’s watching daddy take leadership; he’s noticing a book; he’s hearing reading; he’s watching them pray afterwards; and he’s learning massively important things before he understands a word that is going on here…

You’re not demanding faith from this little pagan, because he’s not ready even to come to those terms. You’re doing teaching: you’re building and your exulting and your praying and your asking, and he’s watching all this happen as you build that into his life.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Kelsey Tells All

January 10, 2009 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Bobby Gilles recently caught up with Kelsey Barnes while nosing around in the children’s wing of The 930 Art Center, Sojourn’s home. In the video above, you’ll see them chat for a couple minutes in the 3-Year Olds’ classroom.

HT: TravelBlog.

Parenting Goals

November 12, 2008 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Parenting Toddlers and Preschoolers, Session 3

As parents, we are exposed to all kinds of ideas of how to parent our children.  They come from everywhere: family traditions, pop-culture, and the church.  In this session, we look at the goals that are impressed upon us and compare them to our Biblical mandate, to see if they hold up to the scrutiny of the Bible.

Tripp suggests an all-encompassing goal that we can use to focus our view of life and the training of our children.  It is the first question and answer from the Shorter Catechism:

Q.    What is the chief end of man?

A.    Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

This lays out a Biblical worldview before our children.

Tripp writes, “From their earliest days, (our children) must be taught that they are creatures made in the image of God – made for God.  They must learn that they will only ‘find themselves’ as they find him.  Your child must grow to see that real living is experienced when he stands before God and says, ‘Who have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you (Psalm 73:25).’  If this is what you want for your children, then you must ensure that the content of everyday life fits this objective.”

Download the class notes for this session or view all of the Sojourn Home Parenting Classes.