Listen Love Time Trust and Forgive.

1] Listen: as a parent, spend time just listening to your kids (often, a little every day). Figure ways to get them to open up, and then LISTEN. Tell them a story to get them started.

2] Love: put up with ’em; even when they don’t do exactly what you want; cut ’em a little slack; do something they want to do. Give ’em a hug just for the heck of it.

3] Time: Rick Warren: pastor-author-dad, said, “The best indication of how much you love someone is how much TIME you spend with them.”

4] Trust: Be trustworthy to your kids; if you tell them you’re going to do something to-for-or-with them, do it: hold them in high esteem in your life. Put ’em at the top of your priority list, right up there with your spouse.

5] Forgive: 1 Corinthians 13:5e says, “[Love] will hardly even notice when others do it wrong.” TLB That’s the way we should treat our kids, speaking of forgiveness.