Blogs

The Gift of Silence
It may sound like a children-should-be-seen-and-not-heard type of post, but trust me, it’s not. Silence can be the one thing that keeps children going strong even amidst the emotional roller coaster that is parental relationships. Recently, my husband made a comment that hurt me a

An Organized Home
Everything had its place. Everyone in the family knew where to find the scissors, for example. And when each person got done using the scissors, they would put it back where it came from. Of course, there were times it did not make it back

Children Are People
Parents, grandparents, and educators are delighted, but not surprised, at how well their children respond to the 10 Greatest Gifts tools and concepts. Why aren’t they surprised? Because they know that almost everyone responds well to being treated with dignity, respect, and directness. Literally, everyone

Teams Can be Fertile Teaching Ground
Showing your kids how to deal with the human element on a team Most of us have kids who are involved in something: sports, dance, music, STEM, 4H, you name it. If you do, you know that there are all kinds of rewards and challenges

A Working Snow Day
A Working Snow Day A few months ago, my children’s school had not yet gone to remote learning. It was the end of the weekend and they were gearing up to go to school on Monday. But no, my children stayed home from school because

Marriage IS Parenting: Show them how to be a pro: Part 3
Marriage IS Parenting: Show them how to be a pro: Part 3 Indirect Parenting Demonstrating a good marriage is parenting just as much as direct nurturing and behavior correction. You might call it indirect parenting. How so, you might ask? Well, what is the general

Marriage IS Parenting: Show them how to be a pro: Part 2
Marriage IS Parenting: Show them how to be a pro: Part 2 Leveraging Healthy and Unhealthy Parenting Examples If you read Part 1 of this post, you know that personality type always throws a wild card into the mix. So now you have the wild

Marriage IS Parenting: Show them how to be a pro: Part 1
The Personality Wild Card Someone once asked me, “How often do you fight with your spouse?” After almost 15 years of marriage, you’d think it would be easy, but I could not think of a single incident I would qualify as a fight. I’ve never

You Are a Living Text Book: Write it Well
We all have a special distaste for text books, until we find out we are one; our kids read the text book of our lives every day. I just recently became familiar with The 10 Greatest Gifts I Give My Children, and while the example

No Words Required: The Listening Puzzle
I admit it. This seems crazy and a bit of an exaggeration: Researchers say that the average parent spends less than 30 seconds per day deeply listening to their children. Grandparents are somewhat better, but that statistic has got to send a shock wave of

Press the Record Button: They Are Watching
The gifts I’m talking about can’t be bought for any price in any store. But these gifts are vital to giving our children a joyful and healthy future. Of course, I’m talking about the gifts of qualities and values like honesty, responsibility, self-reliance, compassion, a sense of humor, and self-esteem. These gifts are truly priceless.