Controlling Emotions (a Parenting Book sidetrack)

I started to write my next parenting book review and ended up on this tangent. It's long enough in itself.

My next book (Hints on Child Training, by H. Clay Trumbull) has a chapter on Training a Child to Self-control: such as, if he gets hurt, don't let him scream and cry as long as he wants. This seems to go directly against the popular fear of suppressing emotions, but children desperately need to be helped to control (not suppress) their emotions and reactions.

And here is the tangent. Children need to be helped to view life in a way that helps them to have more "correct" emotional reactions.

A couple days ago, I realized I have to pay $340 for a traffic ticket I got for turning left onto a quiet street because supposedly there is a tiny sign that I never saw saying I couldn't turn left there between 8:15 and 8:25 a.m. or some such nonsense.

And I did feel angry. For a minute. Maybe a little longer. Maybe every time I allow myself to dwell on it. $340? For a silly sign I didn't even see? It's utterly unjust, and we can't afford it. But I have faith in the God of ultimate justice, and I know that our money isn't really ours, anyway. And I know that God has always provided for us abundantly. So what, really, do I have to be mad about?

So, yes, I was mad, and yes, that was okay, and yes, I might write a letter to somebody high up not because I'm mad, but because it really is an exorbitant fee for something extremely minor. But trusting in God's ultimate justice and provision instead of indulging my emotions is much better.

It's the same with sadness and many other emotions. I will not allow myself to wallow, and I will teach my children how to identify, understand, and control their emotions, to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (I Cor 10:5) and move on.

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