Wouldn’t it be nice to have a parenting manual? A plan you could follow, with an outcome of awesome adult children and no regrets about how you raised them.

Well, in my opinion, today’s guest, Bonni Greiner, has practically done that for us.

An Easier Way -- Bonni Greiner

Bonni is the mom to eight children. Yep, that’s some street cred right there. After all her experience, she’s written down 21 ways to lovingly parent your children without regrets. Through her words you find perspective on what’s important and what’s not. How to clear away the clutter of parenting advice and focus in on what has the biggest impact.

Most days I think, “there’s got to be an easier way!” Bonni refocused my eyes to see what extra burdens I’ve been carrying and what important moments I’ve been missing.

Theresaneasierwaybook

In this episode, Bonni shares her own struggles with overwhelm and lack of contentment in her motherhood. She also shares a pattern of angry parenting. But then she gives us practical ideas to connect with the hearts of our children. And a super practical way to help us stop yelling at our children. She also lays out their discipline strategy, a positive approach to developing men and women of Biblical character. Lastly, Bonni reminds us how to laugh more. And be the best mom by doing what we love and inviting our children to join us.

**GIVEAWAY**Make sure you check my Instagram account this week. I’ll be giving away a copy of Bonni’s book.

Connect with Bonni:

What we chat about:

  • Bonni’s transition from a Jewish home to being wife to a Christian, pig farmer with four boys under the age of 5.
  • The damage of comparing ourselves to what we think other moms are like.
  • Bonni’s challenge of being an angry mom and strategies to help her yell less.
  • Embracing the children God gave us.
  • Basing love on who are children are in Christ Jesus not their performance.
  • The Greiner Family “Six Non-negotiables” that led discipline decisions.
  • Using positive affirmation to train family in the non-negotiables.
  • Intentionally planning one-on-one time with each of your kiddos during the day and over the course of the year.
  • When hugging and talking to your child you can hear their heart.
  • Bonni’s system of “goaling backwards” in helping shape her child’s character and calling.
  • Finding the humor in our day, accepting the fact that our children are childish at times (‘Let’s see the humor’).
  • Doing what you love so that you are enjoying motherhood and your family is happier.

Links Mentioned:

How to listen to the podcast:

1.Listen on the blog. Click through to GodCenteredMom.com and click the play button at the beginning of this post.

2. Listen on your smartphone, iPad or iPod Touch – There are a lot of great podcasting apps. Apple has a free one (that I mentioned) in the app store, there is also one called Downcast. It allows you to search for shows, subscribe to them and even speed up the audio. If you don’t have an iDevice, you can listen via Stitcher.

3. Subscribe to the Podcast – access the podcast in iTunes (Click here to access via iTunes). You can also search for it on your smartphone app (like the ones listed above) and subscribe.