I am nearly sixty and a widower. My wife gave birth early to a set of twins, but she didn’t survive the delivery. I was left with children ranging from 10 years of age to sickly premeies. The twins survived and will be 13 soon. They are intelligent; spoiled brats to be honest! I am pro-discipline and never spared the rod with my older\u00a0children, but these are my babies.\u00a0I can’t bear to lift a finger to them. My older children have really stepped up to the plate, caring for them, but keep threatening to stop if they don’t start minding. I say\u00a0I am more mellow now; however, I see them answering back, cursing, and breaking curfew. They love to brawl with each other and\u00a0were\u00a0injured when they got too close to a window. What am I suppose to do?<\/p>\n\t
“He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly<\/em>” (Proverbs 13:24).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You aren’t a disciplinarian because you would not have spoiled brats as children. That you’ve waited this long to even question why you are letting your children run wild is a puzzle. There are aspects of this note which strike me as being dishonest. There are claims being made that are in conflict. Clearly you aren’t concerned about their welfare nor do you care about your fellow man when you are willing to inflict these two on the rest of the world without restraint. It also appears odd that it is your children and not you who are caring for your own children. What father turns the raising of his kids over to kids?<\/p>\n
“If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons<\/em>” (Hebrews 12:9-10).<\/p>\n
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin<\/em>” (James 4:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Personally, I think this note is fake, but I posted it solely to discuss some important points about parenting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I am nearly sixty and a widower. My wife gave birth early to a set of twins, but she didn’t survive the delivery. I was left with children ranging from 10 years of age to sickly premeies. The twins survived and will be 13 soon. They are intelligent; spoiled brats to be honest! I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20,1028],"tags":[665,106,29,107],"class_list":["post-24641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","category-parenting","tag-child-rearing","tag-discipline","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2103,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/may-i-correspond-with-you-about-parenting-issues\/","url_meta":{"origin":24641,"position":0},"title":"May I correspond with you about parenting issues?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings, I recently came across your church's website and wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it. I am the father of two teenage boys, 13 and 15. I came to Christianity late in life, so it has only been in the last few years that I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14071,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-appropriately-discipline-my-sons\/","url_meta":{"origin":24641,"position":1},"title":"How do I appropriately discipline my sons?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First, let me say that I'm glad I found your site and I appreciate your parenting advice. I am a widower with two teenage sons - 17 going on 18 and 14 going on 15. I've to come to the point where I need to make some decisions about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2906,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-discipline-of-children-spanking\/","url_meta":{"origin":24641,"position":2},"title":"Notes on Discipline of Children, Spanking","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Deuteronomy 8:5 \"You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.\" [Note: \"chastens\" means to chastise literally with blows or figuratively with words] Deuteronomy 21:18 \"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66904,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/every-child-has-something-to-say\/","url_meta":{"origin":24641,"position":3},"title":"Every Child Has Something to Say","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant It is patently obvious that children have needs, beginning at the time of birth. They need food. They need clothing. They need to have their diapers changed. And they need to be held.\u00a0But beyond these necessities for their life and well-being, there are other needs that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37992,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/discipline-in-the-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":24641,"position":4},"title":"Discipline in the Home","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irven Lee Truth Magazine, February 17, 1983 Children do not have the ability at birth to understand the language of their parents. 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