Impulsivity!
Kids can be pretty impulsive sometimes. I have come to believe that sometimes when you ask your child, "Why did you do that?" They reply with an honest answer, "I don't know." I truly believe that they don't know because their impulsivity got them into some trouble. It is so hard to follow the practice of stopping and thinking before acting. I struggled with impulsivity alot when I was younger, but mostly when someone was cheating. I'd rather lose every game I ever played than win by cheating. I couldn't tolerated cheating, and cheating brought out lots of impulsivity and, quite frankly, poor behavior when I was young. We are all still impulsive to some extent today. Impulsivity isn't bad or wrong, but impulsivity can lead us to poor behavior because we haven't thought things through. Think things through as a parent more often. It will help you remain in control as the parents, and it will also model a calm response to adversity. The apostle Peter struggled with this. I was reminded of it when I was reading Luke 22:54-62 where he denies Jesus three times. Once he had time to think about what he had done in denying Jesus, he wept bitterly (vs. 62). Pause, think, respond! That's a better scenario.
Family Discussion Points!
Play an impulsive game together like a word association game (example: Peanut _______)
Share times when acting before thinking got you into trouble or presented more problems that could have been avoided.
As a family, remind people in your family to stop and think when impulsivity is getting the best of them. Grant permission to all family members to do this for each other.
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