A Brigham Young University Student Journal
by Christy Hinkson Christy is an author and a mother of ten. She recently released her new book Home Remedies for a Nation at Risk: What American Leaders could learn from American Families. Also, click here to view Christy’s blog Stand for the Truth. The …
“He is risen! He is risen! Tell it out with joyful voice. He has burst his three days’ prison; let the whole wide earth rejoice. Death is conquered; man is free. Christ has won the victory.” Christ has won the victory for us over death. …
by Caitlin Schwanger
I recently attended Amy McCready’s Positive Parenting Solutıons webinar “How to Get Your Kids to Listen without Reminding or Yelling.” During the meeting, McCready, parenting specialist and creator of Positive Parentıng Solutions, explained a few basic principles to guide parents in their discipline strategies. Everything got better, she explained, when she began using positive parenting solutions: her children’s behavior got better, and her attitude improved. McCready stated that her vision for parents is that they won’t be able to remember the last time they had to raise their voice to get their children to obey.
How is this possible? How can you get your children to listen the first time? How can you stop misbehavior in your home? In the webinar, McCready explained a few basic principles that will help you on your way to parenting peace.
First, we have to understand why children misbehave in the first place. Bad behavior is a symptom of a deeper problem. We have to understand the problem before we can correct the bad behavior. Children (and adults) have two basic needs: they need to feel like they belong and they need to feel significant.
Children need to feel like they belong, that they are important to you. Children need to feel emotionally connected to their parents, to their siblings, even to their teachers. Children need a lot of positive attention from you. If they aren’t getting enough of that attention, they may resort to negative behaviors to get your attention, even if it’s negative. If something they do gets you to give them the attention they need, they’ll keep repeating that behavior. So one solution to bad behavior is to make sure that your child’s “positive attention basket” is full.
Children need to feel significant, that they are capable, that they make a difference, that they contribute. Often, this translates to children having a need to feel power, that they are in control. So, find ways to help your children feel like they are contributing. Have them help around the house–let chores be a positive thing. Also, give your children age-appropriate positive power. When it is appropriate, let them feel like they have a choice, like they are in control.
In her book, If I Have to Tell You One More Time, McCready provides parents with a “toolbox” of strategies for disciplining children. One of the tools she explained during the webinar was the 5 Rs of Consequences.
The 5 Rs of Consequences
1. Respectful—you need to be respectful to your child and to yourself. If you can’t deal with the situation right away, wait until you can be calm, collected, and respectful.
2. Related to the misbehavior—Make sure the consequence is related to the behavior so the learning event can take place. For example, if your daughter back talks, you shouldn’t discipline her by grounding her from her sleepover.
3. Reasonable in duration—The discipline should be reasonable for the age of the child. McCready recommended taking a puzzle away from a three-year-old for a day and video game privileges away for a week for a teenager.
4. Revealed in advance—You must reveal the rule and the consequence in advance. This gives your child the opportunity to make the choice. This gives them power and control over the situation.
5. Repeat—Have the child repeat the rule back to you. You now know that your child understands the rule and the consequence, and you now have a verbal agreement.
Positive Parenting Solutions has over twenty-five other tools for parents to use with their children. Parents have access to these tools through Positive Parenting Solution’s parenting courses and through Amy McCready’s book. For more information, see Positive Parenting Solutions, or the book, If I Have to Tell You One More Time.
by Adrienne Anderson Since before I can remember, my mother has made cinnamon rolls for Christmas, Easter, and LDS General Conference. She gets up around five or six in the morning to make sure everything is ready by the time we wander into the kitchen. …
by Erin Jones – Dedicated to Alberta Jones She scatters light to all within her touch She smiles, and they smile at her gaze Her garden’s heart to reach and trails to blaze A mother twenty-four years, but n’er too much A gardener first, but …
by Kaylyn Johnston 
Imagine receiving a frantic phone call from your next-door neighbor saying that your son had just been shot . . . by his best friend. For the Stokes family of Oregon, this unthinkable event became a reality in January 2011, when their 12-year-old son Austin suffered a severe head injury after being shot with a loaded shotgun.
Since the near-fatal wound over a year ago, Austin has undergone numerous surgeries, including many to drain spinal fluid from his skull. Austin wears a helmet 24 hours a day to protect his exposed brain. He has had to relearn basic skills such as how to eat, walk, and talk, and has just recently returned to school with the help of in-home tutors.
Within the upcoming year, Austin must have at least two surgeries where doctors will use different parts of his ribs to help repair his damaged skull.
According to the Florida non-profit organization Families Against Murder and Accidental Shootings, the United States has the highest overall firearm mortality rate. The Center for Disease Control reports that more than 28,000 Americans have died every year since 1972 due to firearm accidents.
Because of these startling statistics and their personal experiences, the Stokes family hopes to raise awareness of gun safety from this incident. Austin’s father, Adam Stokes, says it best:
“Way too many kids have gotten hurt or killed by people who are not being safe. I am going to try my hardest to help other people hear this message so they do not have to go through what we have or even worse. Please help me get the word out and let’s make the world a safer place for kids.
For more information about the Stokes family, visit The Desert News
The Stokes family has also asked for financial support to pay for the ever-mounting medical bills. The family has set up a fund in Austin’s name, which can be found here.
by Christy Hinkson Christy is an author and a mother of ten. She recently released her new book Home Remedies for a Nation at Risk: What American Leaders could learn from American Families. Also, click here to view Christy’s blog Stand for the Truth. With …
by Erin Jones Provo, Utah, is known for its obsession about dating matters, and for good reason. When you stick a group of thousands of Latter-day Saint (Mormon) young adults together who are all trying to get married, you can expect to hear about dating. …
Christy Hinkson, a homemaker and mother of ten, recently released a new political book: Home Remedies for a Nation at Risk – What American Leaders Could Learn from American Families. She takes her experience as a mother of ten as well as an entrepreneur, business owner, world traveler, professional speaker, and American that has lived in almost every tax bracket to present new ways that government could model the habits of everyday Americans to benefit our nation.
Christy, who was previously named Young Mother of the Year, feels that this unique approach is what is needed in government today. She believes that no leaders should do anything on behalf of our nation that they wouldn’t do in their own homes. Christy uses common sense experiences from her home to teach principles that should be applied in government. Some chapter titles include: Stick to Your Job, Everyone Contribute, Live within your Means—Balance the Budget, Necessities Come First, Streamline, Self Sufficiency—The Path to Security, The Role of Protector, The Fallacy of Fairness, The Power of Unity.
The book is available as an e-book on Amazon.com
Be ready for another blog post with a review of Christy’s book! Or feel free to comment if you’ve read it and share your thoughts.
by Kaylyn Johnston Family. Defined by the dictionary as, “a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not.” This definition, however, does little to reflect just what family really means to an individual. Aren’t families …