By Jenny Masche
Anyone with children knows the difficulty that can arise when parenting styles differ. Bryan and I agree on one thing for sure: “Train a child in the way he/she should go and he/she will not depart from it.” We both believe in biblical parenting, raising our children to know the Lord and to love him. Even though we have the same end goal, the way of getting there often differs greatly and creates conflict…imagine that!
Bryan was raised in a family with ALL boys, and I was raised in a family with four girls and only one boy. Obviously when one deals with girls it can be different than one deals with boys. Bryan also has an influence from his military days, so often times he disciplines with a stern, loud voice as if he is commanding troops!
I say, “Honey, can’t we be gentler, you know, we aren’t soldier’s in the military.” All he see’ is that it is effective and will get the results that he desires. On the other hand as a mom, I tend to try to be more persuasive, reasoning with them (as if you can reason with a 2 year old…six of them at that!). We do at times snap at each other, and end up having long, drawn out discussions on “you shouldn’t have done that, or you SHOULD have done that,” “why did you say it like that”, etc. etc. When the tempers are cool and we have come to have a somewhat pleasant discussion, we realize that God gave us different parenting styles so that we can meet somewhere in the middle.
If we were both too stern, or too passive, we would definitely have problems! We have both discovered that when we talk (on date night, or after kids are sleeping) we are thankful for our different parenting styles and we have learned (slowly) that we need to show one another grace because we are never going to be 100% in agreement on the way a situation needs to be handled. As long as we remember we are on the same team…God’s team…it helps us handle the differences with wisdom and grace, something we need more of and pray for on a daily basis!
So my advice to any parents, delight in the differences, although challenging, and remember you are a team. Learn from one another rather than try to always change the way the other partner may be trying to do things. We are FAR from perfect in this area…so I am saying this to myself! God bless you! 
