We recently completed Growing Kids God’s Way with our small group from church. We had the honor and privilege to have Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo over for a Question and Answer session. I must say that meeting the Ezzo’s in person has blessed and encouraged me in my parenting immensely. They are so full of Grace and wisdom! They gave us some wonderful practical application to our every day struggles, and then we took a few moments at the end to encourage them by sharing what we learned AND were actually putting into practice! Here’s a short review of what we said.

Our class leader’s with 3 kids-4th time taking GKGW, they explained how we will all get something different and new each time we take the course. Dad putting into practice the Father’s mandate. Mom commenting on forgiveness and the positive results the class has had on their marriage.

Our response as parents of a two yr old- Room time and individual play- As a new Mom I would have never thought of this on my own, especially when it was in the form of play pen time and the “love/hate” relationship Isabelle had with it. But today as I see the long term results and her ability to creatively play on her own, I am so proud of her. She set up all her toy “Little People” and sang Happy Birthday to each one by name and then read them books-I peeked in and beamed!

Training in times of non conflict-WOW another wonderful blessing of instruction that I would not have thought she was capable of understanding at such a young age, and yet she gets it. If I take the time prior to a friend coming over and walk her through sharing she is so much more sweet about it all. Its when I have not done the training and a situation spontaneously arises she gets quite upset (like 2yr olds do!)

Family with 3 kids ages 6yrs, 4 yrs, and 18 mo-They made a consequences chart and how handy and useful it has become-I have seen this chart and was quite impressed. 4 yr old understanding “having the Freedom” to do and responding -kids are amazing and continually surprise us with how quickly they really do “Get it”.

Family with 2 yr old and one on the way -Teaching “Yes Mommy, Yes Daddy” and obedience to follow thru on instructions the first time.

Family with 2 1/2 yr old twins- Using proper words to train , “Fold your hands and get self-control” and the success in calming their daughter in her spirited moment. Father seeing the loving results of many months of training with his son.

Family of a 4 yr old and 2 yrs- Speaking the life virtue into her children instead of teaching against the vice.

Family with 5yr and almost 2 yr old who was born prematurely -”Will you forgive me?” importance in their marriage and with their 5 yr old. Mom discussed how her mind was changed to understanding proper biblical chastisement, and therefore reducing the amount of aggression from her 20 mo old preemie who is speech delayed.

Family with 15 mo old and one on the way- Using the technique of giving instruction and then walking away allowing the child time to obey instead of going”toe to toe” with him in a power struggle has been very rewarding for them. They love building family identity and are rejoicing in seeing the results of early instruction and training in their child’s life.

In closing, if you haven’t taken Growing Kids God’s Way, I am currently telling all my friends that I do believe it’s the best thing I’ve done as a parent. We will definitely be taking it again!