When we feel threatened, we build emotional walls that don’t allow our spouse into the deepest parts of our hearts and minds. The emotional distance can cause marital problems.
Fighting
Sibling conflict is unavoidable. It’s just part of life with young humans whose “life-giving skills are still developing,” Cartmell explains. But that conflict can have benefits.
Encourage your children to share their belongings with others.
Inter-ethnic marriages are often plagued by communication lapses, typically because self-interests are prioritized over partnership. Effective communication requires grace-filled attitudes and behaviors.
Healthy conflict can facilitate communication, understanding, trust and respect if we choose to manage our differences and disagreements in nourishing ways.
Before you can begin to talk over the conflict like reasonable, loving adults, you have to pry your closed hearts open again.
Conflict is inevitable in marriage and can create damage or discovery — we choose which it will be. Discovery means learning new ideas, approaches and solutions if we fight together for our marriage.
Physical abuse is a means of coercively controlling another through fear and intimidation. It involves intentionally or recklessly using physical force that may result in bodily injury or physical pain.
Abusive marriages like Emma’s are more common than many realize. God’s plan for a family never included abuse.
You can step onto the down escalator, stop fighting, and return to the issue level, or you can keep moving up to a third level of emotion.
These four key traits will help you to teach your children how to manage their conflicts.
Foster your children’s relationships with each other so they can learn to appreciate what makes each sibling unique.
