Episode Overview
In this special episode of Ministry on the Margins, Josh sits down with his wife, occupational therapist and author Kelsie Olds, to discuss her groundbreaking book Your Child’s Point of View. They explore how parents, teachers, and church leaders can better understand and respond to children’s behavior by reframing it through empathy, developmental science, and personal reflection.
In This Episode, You’ll Hear
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Why children’s behaviors often reflect unmet needs, not rebellion
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How cultural authoritarianism shapes parenting—even in secular homes
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The inner child dynamic: how our upbringing influences how we parent
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The role of the church in creating inclusive spaces for kids
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Shifting from power structures to mutual respect in parenting and ministry
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Practical advice for bridging gaps between parenting styles and learning preferences
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How generational cycles of parenting and power can be broken
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Why understanding your own inner child is critical to better parenting
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How churches can do better at honoring kids as full human beings
About the Book
In Your Child’s Point of View: Understanding the Reasons Kids Do Unreasonable Things, the Occuplaytional Therapist (Kelsie Olds) combines reassuring knowledge, modern research, light humor, and empathetic imagination to provide helpful insights and collaborative strategies for solving common adult/child challenges at home and at school, with an emphasis on meeting everybody’s needs in a positive way.
Whether you are raising a baby or teenager, teaching preschool or high school, or embarking on the often-difficult journey of reparenting your own inner child, this book is for you. Within its pages, you will find over fifty relatable examples of common childish behaviors. Each scenario, initially shown from the adult’s perspective, offers a possible child’s perspective, along with key things to know about why children may act this way and key things to try for replacing conflict with joyful connection.
Helpful Links
- Learn more about Kelsie Olds
- Buy the book
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- Listen on Spotify
- Listen on Amazon Music
- RSS Feed
- More episodes at Life is Story
Favorite Quotes
“Really a great deal of the work that I do is literally just reminding people that children are humans.”
“If your kid is having a problem, they’re showing you whatever the problem is by the way that they’re acting.”
“Even just acknowledging that a huge amount of adult reactions to kid behaviors is really saying more about the adult in that moment than it is about the kid.”
“Children’s curriculum is very teaching-based, like ‘here’s the point,’ while adult small groups are discussion-based. Are you going to treat the children with the same sort of respect and—I don’t want to say autonomy—but at least value for their perspective?”
“As you’re shaping the ministry that you’re doing… the guiding question would be: did you remember that the kids were also human beings?”
