Strong-Willed Child, part 1

I have come to the conclusion that I am the parent of a "strong-willed child". I have met many other children D's age. He is much more extroverted, social, and independent than other kids. Even on the rare occasion that he cries for me, he only wants a quick squeeze to reassure him. If I scoop him up to comfort him, I get the baby wiggles, as if to say "geez mom, not in front of my friends!" If you have met me, you are not surprised I have produced such a child. If you had the "pleasure" of having to be around me as a small child (XOXO aunt shell, aunt dana, aunt jodi...) then I believe you're a throwing your head back and laughing at karma.

I have been struggling with him on some issues since he was about 15 months. A book was recommended to me, with an emphasis on biblical parenting. I WANT to raise my son with his heart open and ready for God, but I could not find much in this book that I could agree with, let alone implement. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I sort of gave up on the idea of any more books. I set out to be consistent, patient, and more firm. Well, that's not working, or else I'm still lacking something with my parenting skills.

My friend's mom recommended Dr. Dobson's "The New Strong-Willed Child". I was resistant because of my experience with the other christian parenting book. This week I stopped making excuses. I can read it, and chose to disagree, no harm done. So far, I am pleasantly surprised (because the first book was so bad?). I have yet to delve in very far, but I have read enough to have an important change of heart:

D's strong will is not a bad thing. All kids have different temperaments, each with its own blessings. His strong will and his strong spirit are two different things. His will can be tamed without taking away his spirit, the things I love about him - his independence, humor, determination. That was sort of profound for me. I am hopeful and on my way to grateful - moving away from feeling like I'm the ONLY person whose child behaves like this.

I think it is very popular book, so as I get through it, I'll do a few posts with my 'review' and hopefully, in the end, I'll also have some positive results to share as well! If you've read the book - please leave a comment. If you think your little angel is strong-willed, I'd love to hear about that too!