Parenting with Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility

by Foster W. Cline

I’ll wear my coat, but only because you made me. Just wait until I’m old enough to decide for myself about wearing a coat! When little kids rebel, parents can quash the rebellion with a stern order and get good short-term results. But when kids hit adolescence and rebel, parental orders too often become unenforceable. Allowing children at a young age to practice decision making on simple issues teaches them to think and control their own lives. Then when adolescence hits, they will be less susceptible to peer pressure regarding alcohol, drugs, sex, and other temptations. They will have learned they can make their own wise decisions.