Teaching Obedience to Children

My son started taking a tumbling class. He was the only boy in the class. Compared to the girls, he looked out of control.

It does make me laugh a little bit. He was definitely more “spirited” than the girls.

The issue we faced was obedience.

At home, when I gave him instructions, he was usually very good at following them.

But for some reason, when it came to his teacher, he did whatever he wanted.

He would not sit still, which surprisingly happened a lot in tumbling class, because each child got a chance to do the activity.

And he could not seem to sit still. If he was sitting he was CONSTANTLY bouncing up and down, kicking his legs, and swinging his arms.

I was just sitting there thinking, “How hard is it to sit still?!?!?”

I wanted him to feel free and excited, but I also wanted to instill respecting his elders (or teachers).

I thought that teaching him obedience was a breeze…mostly because he listened well to me.

I just assumed when I told him he needed to listen to his teacher he would.

That being said the Lord taught me what to do with him, by showing some areas of disobedience I needed to work on personally.

I was stubborn to do some of the things God had shown me.

He never told me I HAD to do something, but I suffered my own consequences by not doing them.

I realized that my son was just getting a lecture from me when he wasn’t listening.

There was no real consequence for not listening.

Children need boundaries, stability, and consequences in order to learn.

Contact us if you need help.