My two year, Joseph has been a real hand-full the last month or so. His normally laid back, easy-going, happy disposition completely vanished, and was replaced by a whiny, mean, unhappy child I don't recognize, and don't particularly like either. I have been at my whit's end with his biting, screaming, and nastiness. He's spent A LOT of time in the red "time-out" chair...amongst receiving many other forms of discipline.

Last night I decided I should be more purposeful with brushing and flossing his teeth at night. As I'm doing this, I realized that the poor child has FOUR molars coming in! Well, good heavens...I think I would want to be mean, and nasty, and bite people too if I had FOUR molars coming in as well! How in the world did I not catch on to this earlier? Good question! I have no answer for you on that one!

Another scenario: My six and a half year old has been taking naps every day until just recently. Let me explain...I've tried to wean him off of naps, and the days I tried that he was impulsive, compulsive, couldn't concentrate on anything, and extremely out of control. About a year ago, I remember thinking that something must be wrong with him. Maybe he had lead poisoning? Maybe he had A.D.D? Maybe he was mildly autistic? I started researching and asking questions , and found no answers. Fortunately another issue came up over this past winter. Luke had a chronic sinus infection that just would not go away no matter what we tried. Interestingly enough, our Doctor asked me, "Is Luke having trouble concentrating during the day? Does he have a hard time with self control? Does he still need to take naps?" Of course my answer was "YES!" to all three questions. "What does that have to do with his sinus infection?", I thought to myself. My doctor referred me to an Ear, Nose, and Throat surgeon to get a second opinion on what my Doctor thought was going on. Sure enough! Luke has had sleep apnea. He wasn't sleeping well at night, so then he was extremely tired all day...resulting in his behavior issues. We had his tonsils and adenoids out, and his sinus' cauterized back in June, and it has been a night and day difference!

So, my parenting advice for today is; If your child has a drastic and unusual change in their behavior, or behavior that is just unexplainable, consider that there may be something physically going on. After checking that out, and if you find nothing, then move on to the next steps of training and discipline. If you do find that there is something going on physically, try to find a good balance of being extra patient and understanding, yet not letting them use excuses for bad behavior. Life is never going to be perfect. When your child grows up, there will be days he/she has a headache, chronic pain of some sort, PMS, etc. Physical things in their life, that are going to make them want to scream, swear, and be nasty. If they never learned to control themselves as children because there was always an excuse to lean back on, that isn't going to change when they are older either. Their ways of acting out will change however. It won't be crying and biting anymore, it will be road-rage or abusing their spouse or children. Yes, they might not feel good, but they still need to learn to make good choices! Most of all PRAY! Pray that God will lead you to the answers you are seeking regarding those behavioral issues!

I realized not too long ago, that I DO in-fact, have a owner and operators manual, with all of the answers to my parenting questions. Actually, what I have is far better than that! I have God's Word, and I have the Holy Spirit living in me. The dynamic duo! We have all the tools for the trade, we just have to choose to use them!