A lot of us keep saying, “My child doesn’t listen.” But have we actually trained them how to listen? Listening is not just hearing your voice. Listening means they stop, focus, understand, and respond with action. And that has to be taught. Sometimes our children are not ignoring us because they’re “bad.” Sometimes they are overstimulated, distracted, confused, used to repeated warnings, or they’ve learned that we don’t really mean it until we yell. So today, we’re not just correcting “you don’t listen.” We’re training what listening looks like. Try this: Get close before giving the instruction.Say their name.Make eye contact if they can handle that.Give one clear instruction.Ask them to repeat it back.Then follow through. Example: “Jordan, put your shoes by the door.” Then ask: “What did I ask you to do?” If they repeat it, now you know they heard you. If they don’t do it, the issue is not hearing anymore now it’s follow-through. And parents, this matters because some of us are giving instructions from across the house, while the TV is on, while they’re playing, while we’re already irritated, then we get mad when they don’t move. Slow down and train the skill. Listening is a skill. Following instructions is a skill. Responding without attitude is a skill. And skills need practice. Today’s training step: Pick one instruction and train your child through it calmly. Not a lecture.Not yelling from another room.Not repeating it 12 times. Just clear, close, calm, and consistent. Say this today: “In our home, listening means you stop, hear, and follow through.” Question for today: Where does listening break down the most in your home? A. They don’t stop what they’re doing B. They say “okay” but don’t move C. They argue first D. They act like they didn’t hear you E. You repeat yourself too many times F. You end up yelling before they listen Two more post today on listening coming soon

Kingdom parents, Every year on May 31st, we celebrate the Everything Parent Award in honor of Frances Marie Williams. This is not just another post or something we scroll past. This is a movement. My grandmother, Frances Marie Williams, raised me. She was my everything. She did everything, even when it was hard, even when nobody saw it, even when she had every reason to give up. And when I look at this community, I see her in so many of you. Parents who are tired but still show up, healing while raising others, carrying a past and still pushing forward, parents who don’t have it easy but refuse to quit. So on May 31st, we honor that. We honor you. This is how we’re showing up. You wake up intentional. Not rushing, not overwhelmed, not pouring into everyone else first. You get dressed, do your hair, get your nails done, put on something that makes you feel good. You take yourself out, whether it’s to eat, to sit in peace, or just to enjoy your own presence. You take pictures, real ones, proud ones, the kind that say “I made it through some things.” I will be sending out certificates to every parent who signs up, because you deserve to be recognized. Then we show the world. You post your pictures, you tag the community, you send them to me, and I’m going to share them so the world can see what strength really looks like, what resilience looks like, what “everything” really looks like. We celebrate everything else in this world. Now it’s time to celebrate ourselves. If you’re joining this movement, drop your name below. This is your moment. Don’t sit this one out. Because May 31st belongs to the parents who never gave up. In honor of Frances Marie Williams, let’s show the world what “everything” really looks like.

Kingdom parents, this week we are shifting the conversation. We’ve been talking about discipline, consistency, boundaries, yelling, tiredness, moods, and calm boring consistency. Now lets go deeper Your child does not just need correction.They need training. A lot of what we keep punishing, we may have never actually taught. We tell them to listen, but have we trained them how to listen? We tell them to clean, but have we shown them what “clean” actually means? We tell them to calm down, but have we taught them what to do when their body feels overwhelmed? We tell them to pray, but have we modeled how to talk to God? We tell them to apologize, but have we trained them how to take responsibility and repair? This week, we’re not just asking, “Why won’t my child behave?” We’re asking “Have I trained them for what I keep expecting from them?” That question may humble us, but it will also help us grow. So welcome to Training Week. We are going to talk about how to train our children in listening, cleaning, calming down, apologizing, responsibility, handling no, and walking with God. Not perfectly. Faithfully. Because kingdom parenting is not just reacting to behavior. It’s building character. Question for today: What is one thing you realize you’ve been correcting, but you may need to start training your child in?

Some of you are correcting your child…but the disrespect is still happening. And you’re sitting there thinking “I already told them about this.”“I already disciplined this.”“Why does it keep happening?” Let me tell you why. Because correction by itself does not stop behavior. Consistency does. Structure does. Follow-through does. Let’s break this down. 1. You’re correcting, but not following through. You said: “Don’t talk to me like that again.” They did it again… and nothing really happened. So now your child learned: “She doesn’t mean what she says.” Children don’t respect words.They respect patterns. 2. Too many warnings. Some parents say the same thing 4–5 times: “Stop.”“I said stop.”“Don’t do that.”“I’m serious.”“Okay that’s your last warning.” By the time you finally act, your authority is already weak. Say it once. Then move. 3. You’re correcting in emotion instead of authority. When correction sounds like yelling, arguing, going back and forth your child is no longer focused on what they did… they’re focused on YOURRRR reaction. Now it becomes a power struggle instead of leadership. 4. Consequences don’t match the behavior. If a child is disrespectful and the consequence is: “Go sit down.” That doesn’t teach anything. But when consequences require effort and responsibility: • cleaning baseboards• wiping walls• organizing spaces• doing something that takes time and discipline Now they feel it. Not out of anger… but out of structure. 5. You let it slide when you’re tired. Some days you correct it.Some days you ignore it. But to a child, that feels like: “Sometimes this is okay.” And whatever is sometimes okay… becomes normal. 6. You’re talking too much. Long lectures don’t build respect. They build confusion and tuning out. You don’t need a speech. You need: clear words, clear boundary, clear consequence 7. There is no established standard in the home. If your child doesn’t clearly know: “How we speak in this house, What respect looks like, What happens when it’s broken”

When your child is grown and telling people about their childhood… What is one thing you hope they say about you as their parent? Not about what you bought them. Not about where you took them. But about how you made them feel or what you taught them about life. For example: “My mom always prayed for us.” “My dad taught me how to handle hard things.” “My parents made our house feel safe.” What do you hope your child says one day?