112. Character Qualities: Specific Examples Character Age

In this episode, Dr. Kathy gives specific examples of character age to help you determine what you should be looking at now and whether your kids are ready for certain privileges. For example, a person in your home could get a ten for patience. In contrast, you get a five because they seem to respond more patiently than you do in different situations automatically. We should not just think about grading each character quality but how complete and how much of other character qualities kids use. In Dr. Kathy’s book Five to Thrive, she writes about discernment for security and belonging. A child who knows how to behave in new situations has a more mature character age, and discernment. How good is a child at determining who is having a bad day and who is outrightly “bad”? Becoming more mature in our character age is a process that takes time, instruction, modeling, correction, affirmation, and learning. Kids with immature character age always need guidance in new situations and can’t determine what is appropriate based on past experiences.