Happiness is a lifted spirit, an optimism in outlook. To live a life where happiness is a regular companion is to be faithful and persistent, willing to persevere through life’s challenges, and have enough emotional reserves to maintain goodwill for family and friends where you can respond and not react. Happiness is a skill and can be taught and should be a family requirement, not so much where you absolutely must display happiness at all [...]
High energy people can be the most productive, most creative, most curious, highly intellectual people you know. As children, they can be exhausting, ever playing, constantly questioning, persistently moving, never yielding, excessively dramatic, ready to run, dance, yell, and essentially, celebrate being alive. High energy children are filled with potential and challenge. What is to be done with these mixed blessings particularly if they’re imprisoned by today’s Coronavirus Order? For us, there was a time [...]
The above picture of ‘Little Tiny Buddy Kevin and Shelli Belly’ has been pinned up in our office for about 24 years. Taken before digital photos had really caught on, it’s a little tattered and a lot loved. If the house were to catch fire, this is what we’d run inside for. This picture captures for us the love of our family. We recently sent you a Letter entitled Sibling Best Friends Forever. The Letter highlights 9 areas that we [...]
“Friends will come and go, but you’ll have your brother and sister forever. Remember, you guys are best friends.” We told this to our kids over and over again, submitting this jewel of family culture into their little subconscious minds. At the end of every bickering argument and tug of war, we would coach them on how to resolve the issue and conclude by stating factually that the family bonds were strong and “You are best [...]
A friend was approached by his son-in-law who asked, “With this Coronavirus, how do you stay so calm?” My friend appreciated the question. Here his son-in-law had a young growing family who knew there was some small personal risk, but more than anything, there was this energy of emergency. Everyone was talking about and concerned about a single topic – the world pandemic! It’s this heightened sense of “We’re all in this together” and “What [...]
“Mooommyy! Mooom! Mommy, can my friend spend the night?” our little 5 year-old asked as he ran up the stairs with his friend in tow. “I’m sorry sweetie, but not tonight.” “But whyyyyy?!” “No. Not tonight.” No reason? Just a rejection? Doesn’t that seem a bit harsh? Wouldn’t it be better to explain why his friend couldn’t spend the night or at least throw out another possibility? No, this was a scene that had played [...]
What does it mean to be a Marr? This is one of the most important questions we faced as a young family. Being a Marr was not a question we contemplated walking down the aisle. For the two of us, growing up in different cultures, Lis in Sweden and Dave in California, family identity wasn’t one of the topics either of us encountered growing up at our dinner table. But in raising our three children from childhood [...]
You have been blessed with wonderful children whose very nature is one of love and of learning. And you are their teacher in both. Season after season, you’ll have these saplings of yours that will look to you to guide them in the ways of love and the ways of the world. It’s just that simple. Like the gardener who always has a new crop of challenges of weeds and insects, sunny days and cloudy, [...]
Last week Rich and Shelly talked about Success in Marriage Excellent points in there! Each marriage has an era where things are going well or where issues need attention - where a little idea can mean a lot. That little idea can compound over time into something fantastic. That was the case with us. At a time when our marriage was at a fork in the road, we discovered 2 important things that helped our relationship [...]
At the intersection of Nature and Nurture stands a child’s attitude. Clearly a child is born with a temperament that influences the way in which they receive information. Their unique personality immediately coloring their own experiences to some degree, large or small. A baby’s joyful openness or colicky restraint seemingly foretells a life to come. How can parents influence a child into a positive mindset that will establish a ‘Can-Do’ perspective, open to new experiences, [...]