‘Parenting the Love and Logic Way’ Comes to Agape

By Kathy Bleitner, MEd, LPC

Agape Christian Counseling has recently started offering Parenting the Love and Logic Way Classes!

What is Love and Logic?

Love and Logic is a philosophy of raising and teaching children, which allows adults to be happier, empowered, and more skilled in their interactions with children. Love allows children to grow through their mistakes. Logic allows children to live with the consequences of their choices. Love and Logic is a way of working with children that puts parents back in control, teaches children to be responsible, and prepares young people to live in the real world with its many choices and consequences.

Love and Logic tells us to set limits.  Limits help children feel loved and safe. God set limits and boundaries for man, first through the law and the 10 commandments, and then by commanding us to live by following the example of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Being a parent today seems more challenging than ever.  Families are busier than ever.  Setting boundaries takes time.  Love and Logic teaches that the only person you can really control is yourself.  How do you set boundaries for kids when this is true?  By using enforceable statements. In other words, describing what WE will do or allow, rather than trying to tell THEM what to do.

Examples of this might be:

• “I’ll listen to you as soon as your voice is calm.”
• “Breakfast is served until 8:00.  Get all you need to hold you over until lunch.”

Love and Logic teaches how to give children a sense of accomplishment through struggle by allowing them to solve the problems they have created, while providing empathy.

We hear people say they had to learn the hard way.  Once they have learned a lesson this way, it is one they never forget.  The same is true of our children.  Learning the hard way really means making a choice and living with the consequences of that choice.  Sometimes parents want to shield their children from the consequences of choices. They don’t want them to feel any pain.  In reality, that is not how life works.  We learn through our struggles.  Love and Logic teaches that making little mistakes and experiencing the consequences of those mistakes are important life lessons that will enable our children to cope and succeed in the world when we can’t be around to protect them.

If you’d like more information about Parenting the Love and Logic Way, classes at Agape, please call Kathy at 314-956-5033, or click here for more information and the online sign-up form. 

About the Author:

Kathy earned her Master of Education in Counseling Degree from the University of Missouri St. Louis.  She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Missouri as well as a National Certified Counselor. To read her full bio, click on the photo to the left.