Abby's Alley

This is the last of three posts on John Rosemond's book, Parenting by the Book. In this section he talks about proper discipline. By discipline, Rosemond does not mean talking, reasoning, and explaining but rather making disciples of your children to follow the right way, God's way.

Chapter Nine: The Bible Tells Me So

This chapter tells what the bible says about discipline. This is a list of section titles of this chapter.
Discipline and love are two sides of the same coin. (Proverbs 3:12)Punishment is never pleasant but produces great benefit for the person punished. (Hebrews 12:11)Punishment is essential to proper discipline. (Hebrews 12:6)Proper discipline validates a child. (Hebrews 12:8)Obedient children are pleasing to their parents. (Proverbs 29:17)Children are to obey their parents. (Colossians 3:20)Obedience will bring blessings to children. (Proverbs 1:8-9)The most obedient children are also the happiest, most self-respecting children. (Proverbs 15:32)A lack of discipl…

This is the second post on Parenting by the Book by John Rosemond. The first post was merely a collection of poignant quotes from the first part of his book. I'm still processing those quotes and deciding what to take and what to leave. He seems to throw the baby out with the bathwater in regards to psychology's influence on parenting. He also seems to believe that Grandma's way of parenting was The Way. In speaking with different people on this topic, I've come to learn that there are many unhealthy and bad examples of Grandma's right way. However, I think he also has many good points about what modern parenting has lost by buying into many psychological theories.

This is now a summary of part two of his book.
Chapter 5: Parenting as One Flesh
Be a husband or wife first and a father or mother second. "For a family to work according to God's design, the husband-wife relationship must be far more active than either parent's relationship with any child&qu…

Hurrah! A successful camping trip to Sycamore Campground, Point Mugu: the first of many I hope. We saw dolphins in the green-gray ocean and a mother and father bird feeding insects to their brood in a tree hole just above our eating area. We bushwhacked our way through a jungle of mustard to find an overgrown trail that took us to an ocean vista. We wet our feet, or in the case of the children their entire bodies, in the frigid pacific, and built sand castles. We ate the simplest of meals and had great fellowship with all the families that went. We're definitely doing this again.

Five families from church all decided back in November to reserve spots for camping this May, and none of us had ever attempted tent camping with our children. Between the five of us, there were thirteen kids, so the little ones all ran around like wild squirrels. The Villas set up a "play tent" where much giggling and rough-housing occurred. Sometimes the children rode each other's bikes. …

I am in the process of reading Parenting By the Book by John Rosemond, and the book makes some serious claims. I needed a place to gather the books' thought-provoking quotes, so I've dumped them all here. Everything has been taken from John Rosemond's Parenting by the Book with the page number in parenthesis at the end of each quote. FYI: I'm still trying to decide what I think about all this. I certainly don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water, but many of his claims definitely address some of my parenting problems.

Introduction

"Psychology holds that the individual is fundamentally good . . . Psychology's central doctrine is one of nonresponsibility—fundamentally, the individual is the product of his upbringing; therefore, his vices are reflections of psychic conflicts engendered by his parents' inadequacies." (4)
"Christianity holds that we are solely and fully responsible for our sinful behavior and that only by accepting tha…

If every little flaw in me sends me back to spankings for sliding down the carpeted stairs in footed pajamas, And to teachers' scoldings for giggling in the back of Spanish . . .
If my every misgiving compels me to ask why, what does it mean, and who has done this to me . . .
Then I lose myself  in conjecture, constructed from vivid memories and sentiment and anger.
And when I find a source
for my scruples
then you must understand that it's not my fault. I am innocent. I am doing the best I can
with what's been given me. No one can demand any more.

And I need not ask myself if what I do is right and good or good enough. I need not discover  that it is not, or that my faith is misplaced.

I've found proof
that I'm blameless.
And that proof
is not the blood of the lamb.

The devil wins.