TIPS AND TRICKS

It’s Hard to Discipline Well If You’re Unclear About Standards or Values

Discipline is a system in which parents are passing down their values to their children. Because of that, it must be based on values like honesty, or fairness, or it becomes unmoored and wishy-washy.

Do those values have to be Judeo-Christian and based on some sort of faith? Nope. But they do need to be based on the good of the family. And it’s even better when they are values, which are championed by everyone in the family for the good of everyone else.

When these values are clear and codified, they can be used to set clear and well-defined boundaries. Those boundaries give a child direction. Enforcing those boundaries and knowing the reasons they are enforced helps a kid internalize the values and act in accordance with them even when they are away from their parents.

Here are a few more discipline tips worth keeping in mind.

TIPS AND TRICKS

As Often As You Can, Assume the Best of One Another
To assume makes an ass out of you and me, yes. But in a marriage, it’s important to maintain the assumption that your partner — however flawed and irritating they seem at times — had the best intentions in mind, despite the result.“If you assume your partner is doing their best, it is less likely there will be blaming and disappointment,” says couples therapist Janet Zinn. “And there will be an active engagement to resolve issues as they arise since you know you both have each other’s best interests in mind.” Remember “your best” doesn’t mean perfection – it means you’re giving the situation everything you can at that moment in time.

Here are 23 damn good pieces of marriage advice to keep in mind.