Ack...I tell you, I do definitely feel like a failure when I say something like, "Abby, go make your bed" and I find out twenty minutes later she's lying on the floor playing with her pillow.

Teaching obedience is no happy accident, that's for sure!

I have a friend who used to say that when he was younger he was surreptitious about watching people in stores when he was curious about their strange behavior. And then as he got older he would just go ahead and stare because he realized they had no shame in what they were doing.

One of the most difficult thing about our society is how many things we should know to blush at - such as not being able to get our kids to obey - and yet we have no clue we should even be embarrassed!