H.A.L.T.
I'm posting this because I thought it was very thought provoking. I don't take this as "gospel", but it was a good reminder to me to think on a larger scale about why one of the children might be having a problem. It's not realistic to chalk up all behavioral problems to things other than plain old sinfulness that each of us are born with, but there are physical things that can affect how our body acts and reacts to situations. That is what I think anyway... take it or leave it. :)
As posted by "Mama of Many"...
"Have you ever noticed that 50% of bad behavior in either children or adults can be caused by 4 things? They can be remembered easily with the acronym HALT.
HALT stands for
HALT is also a reminder for "Stop and Solve the problem before continuing in the bad behavior. "Halt!! Who goes there?? Is it a daughter from the dark side or a son?!"
Here is an example of how a friend solved the "hunger" part of H.A.L.T.
I have a dear friend and mentor who adopted 6 children, she had 3 of her own. What a hero she is to me! Her oldest is a teen age boy who has had some behavior problems. A mentor recommended a therapy called "Unlimited pizza" for her son. This is where she purchased tons of cheap frozen pizzas that were his personal stash. He didn’t have to ask to make them and could have them whenever he got hungry. When she told me about this I had two sons just entering puberty and 1 growing about an inch a month. They had volatile behaviors and would be angry and hateful one minute and helpful and nice the next. I was confused and not having had teenagers before not really sure what to do about it. I decided to give “Unlimited Pizza” a try.
(Note: In our home it would be taught to ask for permission to make food. Not necessarily because it would be denied, but because it is important that we maintain order in the castle. Hopefully, my child would have the sense to not want to make a pizza or other snack close to a meal time, but since their judgement may already be clouded, it seems like a logical step to have them ask before assuming it's okay. Maybe that defeats the whole idea, hmm. )
I decided to rename it “Unlimited protein” because some of my children didn’t like frozen pizzas. So I got string cheese, yogurt, M&M’s with nuts, Lunch meat, milk and almonds. These were their unlimited stash. It is amazing what it does.
I too suffer from not eating when I need to. I get busy and forget what time it is or just don’t stop until I am really mean. I have found that having a stash of Plain raw almonds makes all the difference in the world. My blood sugar doesn’t have peaks and valleys that make me need to remember HALT.
If you find yourself Hungry angry, lonely or tired. Stop what you are doing, eat protein, drink water, take a time out , lock yourself in your prayer closet or take a nap, and then go hug your children. You will come back refreshed and ready to join the race again."
As posted by "Mama of Many"...
"Have you ever noticed that 50% of bad behavior in either children or adults can be caused by 4 things? They can be remembered easily with the acronym HALT.
HALT stands for
- Hungry
- Angry(disobedience/foolishness/sin fits in here)
- Lonely
- Tired.
HALT is also a reminder for "Stop and Solve the problem before continuing in the bad behavior. "Halt!! Who goes there?? Is it a daughter from the dark side or a son?!"Here is an example of how a friend solved the "hunger" part of H.A.L.T.
I have a dear friend and mentor who adopted 6 children, she had 3 of her own. What a hero she is to me! Her oldest is a teen age boy who has had some behavior problems. A mentor recommended a therapy called "Unlimited pizza" for her son. This is where she purchased tons of cheap frozen pizzas that were his personal stash. He didn’t have to ask to make them and could have them whenever he got hungry. When she told me about this I had two sons just entering puberty and 1 growing about an inch a month. They had volatile behaviors and would be angry and hateful one minute and helpful and nice the next. I was confused and not having had teenagers before not really sure what to do about it. I decided to give “Unlimited Pizza” a try.
(Note: In our home it would be taught to ask for permission to make food. Not necessarily because it would be denied, but because it is important that we maintain order in the castle. Hopefully, my child would have the sense to not want to make a pizza or other snack close to a meal time, but since their judgement may already be clouded, it seems like a logical step to have them ask before assuming it's okay. Maybe that defeats the whole idea, hmm. )
I decided to rename it “Unlimited protein” because some of my children didn’t like frozen pizzas. So I got string cheese, yogurt, M&M’s with nuts, Lunch meat, milk and almonds. These were their unlimited stash. It is amazing what it does.
I too suffer from not eating when I need to. I get busy and forget what time it is or just don’t stop until I am really mean. I have found that having a stash of Plain raw almonds makes all the difference in the world. My blood sugar doesn’t have peaks and valleys that make me need to remember HALT.
If you find yourself Hungry angry, lonely or tired. Stop what you are doing, eat protein, drink water, take a time out , lock yourself in your prayer closet or take a nap, and then go hug your children. You will come back refreshed and ready to join the race again."
I don't have children of my own yet, but I certainly agree with this. It's so easy to discipline for sin, when that might not be the whole story.
ReplyDeleteWhen my blood sugar is low, or my hormones are out of balance, it's easy to lash out, or act in other uncharacteristic ways. While I need to learn to be Spirit-controlled in these moments also, simply identifying the problem helps a lot!
I'm it's good for kids, too. I think this helps children know they are appreciated and valued, for who they are, and not just based on their outward performance. It really boils down to shepherding your child's heart, and not just ruling with the rod.
We totally love this HALT concept. Dan and I have been talking about it a lot since I first read it here. We may end up using the "unlimited pizza" thing when the boys are older. That was funny. This was an excellent and thought pondering post, thanks for posting it!! I know the tired one is most true for me... I'm not well when I'm very tired. :)
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