Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Here Paul talks about as parents we should not exasperate our children. Do not exasperate means we should not discourage, embitter, frustrate or provoke them to anger. Exasperation means frustration of the child's core emotional needs and an experience of trauma. Though experiencing frustration is part of life, the distinction we need to make is between occassional events and moments of frustration Versus a life style of repeated frustration and trauma that the child has to experience as a result of the exasperation interaction from the parents. When this happens the child will be growing up without the core emotional need being met.

This continued state of exasperation eventually shapes a child's world view and affects his way of thinking. The child's thoughts about himself and others become distorted. Parents who love their children make this mistakes in a subtle and unintentional way. Through research Parenting counselors have come with a list of 8 exasperation interactions parents have with their children.

Today's Practical

Put a number between 1 to 10 capturing the severeity of the exasperation interaction that you feel is experienced by your kid. (high score means more severe)

No.	Exasperation Interactions	Child 1	Child 2	Child 3
1	Belittling
2	Perfectionistic and Conditional
3	Controlling
4	Punitive
5	Emotionally Depriving and Inhibiting
6	Overprotective
7	Pessimistic
8	Overly Permissive