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Well I think we can all agree it's good to have some rules in your house

especially when it comes to your children's safety and health. I would not have

been a good dad if I let my kids ride in the car without a seatbelt or have ice cream every

night for dinner and nothing else. Most parents though tend to lean toward the stricter

side or maybe some lean toward the more permissive side of parenting and perhaps a good

goal for all of us is to be aware of those extremes if you will and try to find the

middle. I'm John Fuller joined by Danny Werta. He heads up our parenting and

youth department here at Focus on the Family and Danny you often encourage parents to be firm yet

loving so tell us kind of what we can be aiming for.

Well that's where the seven traits came from.

That's really a balance of both of those if you apply the seven traits.

All right, what are the seven traits real quick?

Yeah, it's adaptability, respect, then being intentional, and then it's love and then boundaries,

limits, and then grace and forgiveness, and then gratitude.

And that gives you a balance with those.

Gratitude makes you more adaptable and flexible in your mind

to be able to adjust and see what is happening in my child's life,

being present, listening. Your children need that warmth that

you're truly understanding who they are and then they will trust the limits you

bring and the rules that you're enforcing because they feel heard they feel

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