love to paint

Six years ago, I remember listening to an interview with Kendra Smiley on Focus on the Family.  I was driving towards downtown Augusta, Georgia and was thinking of my friend's teenage son and his strong will.  Little did I know at the time how strong willed my second and third children would be at that time--since they hadn't arrived yet!  I liked what she had to say and tucked what she shared in memory.  What I most remember about the interview was her belief that--every strong willed child is motivated by something, but they will pretend as if they don't care about it.   For several years, I've remembered that she wrote a book titled Aaron's Way , but for some reason I never picked it up.  Recently, I realized that I was at a point of exhaustion with my two strong willed children.  My oldest has been saying to me, "Mommy, I just want to make your life easier."  What a sweetie.  But, what I needed help with she couldn't help me with. ...

I have three children and a dog.  I am certain that 2 of my 3 are strong willed.  I am highly suspicious that our Golden Retriever is as well or at least she has willful tendencies.  I am strong willed and my husband is strong willed, so I am fully aware that my children completely come by this trait, or should I say strength ;) naturally.   Even though I am strong willed, I have been struggling the past few months with my younger two children.  More often than not I have found myself simply saying "No", yelling, and not being an effective parent.  I have been concerned at what I've seen in myself, but felt exhausted.   I'm still tired, but not exhausted and burned out like I was last week.  I feel like God has really helped me reset my thinking about my children and how I see my job as their mom.  Last Thursday, I started reading a book titled The Journey of a Strong Willed Child by Kendra Smiley.  On the first page, I only under...