Overcoming a Family Crisis
By Natalie J. Hale

They happen to everyone. Sometimes attacking from all fronts, they smack you upside the head when you least expect them. And even if you were expecting them, it seems nothing can prepare you for the impact and inevitable results, which might be passing or permanent. And if one hasn’t struck you yet, your number simply hasn’t been called. But it will be.

Such is the reality of living in a fallen world. Bad things happen even to good people. Crises do happen and come in various levels of intensity and seriousness. For example, your toddler falls and scrapes his knee, or your boss fires your husband. But even though their existence is certain, there are ways we can learn to appropriately handle them so that they don’t ruin our lives.

One way is to not panic. According to Dr. Phil:

Because of the great light and knowledge of the restoration, we have access to more truth than even the professionals of the world. When we hold on as a family through a crisis, and are loyal not just to each other, but to the Lord because it is Him we worship, then He will guide us through our difficult times. President Marion G. Romney put it this way:

If you can and should stop the difficulty, do it. Take control. This will take discernment and some cases will be more difficult than others. Heavenly Father wants you to do the right thing. He’ll help you. But if the crisis is something you cannot or should not stop, again, you can turn to the Lord for support through the trial. And then help your children do the same if this is a crisis that concerns them.

There are many opportunities that you can teach children at an early age how to deal with crises in their lives. For example, let’s say the family goldfish dies. That can be quite a traumatic experience for little children! It is an issue that concerns them, and brings up a good opportunity to talk to them about life after death.

Or how about a child who wants the toy his sibling is already playing with? Not having that toy is going to shake his little world into absolute misery. So take him by the hand, or set him on your lap, and tell him that his sibling is playing with that toy right now and that he will have to wait his turn. (This would be a good time to set clock for ten minutes so your child will know that his turn is coming.)

If during those ten minutes he wants to make an issue about having to wait, simply remind to be quite about it until it’s his turn. But if he turn from distraught to angry and begins throwing a temper, see my previous two articles for more details about handling children with temper tantrums. This is a time to remind children to control their outward emotions, which is an attribute that will help them throughout life.

A crisis, no matter how great or small, is inevitable in family life. But some can be lessened or even prevented if we are prepared and turn to the Lord and ask for his help.

The previous quotes and others on crisis management are available in my free parenting newsletter at http://www.enlightenedhomemaker.com