Household Manual -children

What kind of parent are you?
Matt and I are strict with our kids, definitely not lax. I am the primary disciplinarian and he stands behind me in our parenting style. Matt and I both believe strongly in leading by example. Children learn by what you do, not what you say, so we want to be great examples in that way.

Being a parent means loving, encouraging, disciplining, correcting and training your kids to be productive people of character, integrity and honor. We are training our children while they are young to behave in a responsible, respectful manor and expect them to always approach everything with a happy heart.


Do you parent like you were parented?
In a nutshell, no. I try to be like my mom in that she had an unlimited amount of patience, but she was far to lenient. My father although more rigid, was often a softy as well, and often not present to do the parenting.

Do you and your partner disagree about parenting?
Not really, we are most often on the same page when it comes to our children, and when we are uncertain, we discuss things first.

Are your children well behaved?
In comparison to most kids their age, YES. We do not tolerate bad behavior so we are training the children to obey us the first time we ask them to do something. They are still very young and we are constantly striving to ingrain in our children the importance of respect.

What are your hopes and dreams for your children?
I want my kids to always DREAM BIG and never settle. I want them to follow their passion, and manifest their destiny and make it a reality! I hope that Jonathan and Katrina each find what their unique gifts and talents and use them to realize their dreams. Then we would like them to pursue the things that they're uniquely great at, become some of the best in the world at their callings, and be very fulfilled in what they're doing.

What are your feelings about chores?
Everyone in the family is expected to do something to pitch in including the children. Matt and I believe that chores are very important for our kids to because they build character and train the kids with the necessary skills to be successful in their lives.

We have several different methods in place to keep the kids on track with chores. The best example we have is a marble jar. When the jar is filled the children get a choice out of three possibilities, - like going out to pizza or a special theme restaurant or park or earning a new toy– and once the kids have filled the jar and reached that goal we will take them out. They can earn marbles by helping out when called upon and they can earn extra marbles for obeying mommy and daddy the first time we ask them to do something.

Do you have house rules?
We have a lot of house rules and there are swift and immediate consequences if anyone breaks a house rule. There is no inappropriate language and absolutely no talking back. We are training our kids to do everything without arguing or complaining and always with a good attitude.

The biggest house rule is behaving respectfully to us and to each other. We do not tolerate disrespectful behavior in our home. We do not tolerate the children hitting each other or arguing among themselves or us. We expect them to be kind to everyone. They must always use their words to build people up and be encouraging in everything that comes out of their mouths. I am a big believer in positive reinforcement!

TV and Computer time is limited to 30 minutes dailyt. Too much time in front of the Television or Computer is not good for their brains and we would rather our kids using their imaginations. Matt and I don't want to raise little couch potatoes.

Another one of our rules is that everyone is expected to eat dinner together whether they are hungry or not. Matt and I also require the kids to read and rest for a minimum of 20 minutes a day. They also have to make sure and complete their morning and bedtime routines without complaining.

Do you discipline your children? How often and for what?
If our kids act up there are swift and immediate consequences. We punish the kids for lying, outright disobedience, disrespect and simple lack of cooperation. Our kids are expected to listen and obey the first time. I want them to learn at a young age the consequences of their choices.

Removal of privileges and freedoms is the biggest form of punishment in our home. We will separate the kids and cancel play dates. This usually works pretty well because they are both very social kids and do not like to be by themselves. We will also take away computer and TV privileges.

We have timed time outs (1 minute per year of life) to readjust their attitudes. This is usually based on being disrespectful, talking back or not obeying the first time Matt or I say something.

I believe that you need to let your children learn by the natural consequences of their actions. If our children make a decision, we try to let the consequences of that decision affect the outcome and they will learn from that in the process.

In order for the kids to be their very best everyday they need to be constantly trained to BE THEIR BEST! We want our children to achieve their callings in life and fulfill their true destinies. In order to achieve these it is important for Matt and I to firmly guide and direct them and point them towards their own natural talents and gifts.