Strong Willed Maelyn

In a moment of frustrating weakness concerning Maelyn, I got The Strong Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson from the library last week. After a few chapters I was disappointed to find that the goal of the book wasn't finding ways to break your child's strong-willed personality, which I thought was the answer to my daily challenges with Maelyn. Instead, he suggests parents try to "shape the will" of your child with consistent leadership, discipline, reassurance, teaching and love. Learning most strong-willed children tend to stay that way through life was a little daunting since Maelyn is just nearing 3 years old. But talking with Troy about what I was reading gave me renewed confidence that we'd been handling her in the correct way so far...at least by Dr. Dobson's suggestions. And the lesson to keep your sense of humor and laughter present in the home is already being exercised daily. There are many times when we are met with difficult situations with Maelyn and can't help but turn our backs to her in laughter after dealing with her attitude. She is pretty hysterical most of the time in the midst of her strong and determined personality. Choosing to laugh instead of cry keeps me traveling forward on the roller coaster of motherhood, although the other day I had a semi-breakdown in the closet after coming once again face to face with Maelyn's defiance. One idea that struck me in a hopeful way when accepting Maelyn's tendency towards being strong-willed is her future relationship with Christ. Those who are determined for Christ are a great asset to the kingdom. Just another fantastic reason to lead her in the direction of Jesus! And when I asked her what she was up to this morning in the playroom, she answered, "Doing my bible study", while clutching Troy's Sunday School curriculum workbook. Now she's drawing with markers in the place she's forbidden to, so off I go to "shape her will". Onto Chapter 5, Protecting the Spirit!