Today I’m answering several questions about how we parent small children.  From character building (and my favorite parenting books) to the way we handle gifts at Christmas, it all matters to the Lord!

Parenting Isn’t for Cowards: The ‘You Can Do It’ Guide for Hassled Parents by James Dobson
Does your heart skip a beat when you think of all that could go wrong in the parenting years ahead? Anxiety is normal, but your worst fears don’t have to become reality. Speaking both as a therapist and a father―and drawing on a landmark study of thirty-five thousand parents―Dr. James Dobson helps you . . .

* prevent child-rearing troubles before they happen
* banish your guilt about hard-to-raise children
* protect your sanity during a child’s adolescence
* restore your energy when you’re facing burnout
* enhance your relationships with your kids

The 5 Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman
Does your child speak a different language? Sometimes they wager for your attention, and other times they ignore you completely. Sometimes they are filled with gratitude and affection, and other times they seem totally indifferent. Attitude. Behavior. Development. Everything depends on the love relationship between you and your child. When children feel loved, they do their best. But how can you make sure your child feels loved?
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know by Dr. Meg Meeker
In today’s increasingly complicated world, it’s often difficult for parents to connect with their daughters–and especially so for fathers. In this unique and invaluable guide, Dr. Meg Meeker, a pediatrician with more than twenty years’ experience counseling girls, reveals that a young woman’s relationship with her father is far more important than we’ve ever realized. To become a strong, confident woman, a daughter needs her father’s attention, protection, courage, and wisdom. Dr. Meeker shares the ten secrets every father needs to know in order to strengthen or rebuild bonds with his daughter and shape her life–and his own–for the better.
Parenting by The Book: Biblical Wisdom for Raising Your Child by John Rosemond
Picture respectful, responsible, obedient children who entertain themselves without television or video games, do their own homework, and have impeccable manners. A pie-in-the-sky fantasy? Not so, says family psychologist and bestselling author John Rosemond.
In the 1960s, American parents stopped listening to their elders when it came to child rearing and began listening instead to professional experts. Since then, raising children has become fraught with anxiety, stress, and frustration. The solution, says John, lies in raising children according to biblical principles, the same principles that guided parents successfully for hundreds of years. They worked then, and they still work now!