As a parent you want to see your children succeed in obeying your instructions. You also want to see your spouse succeed in respecting your relationship.  Their opportunity, for that success, can be greatly improved by you proactively creating an environment for them to succeed in meeting those expectations. One simple tool that creates an opportunity for success is the “Five Minute Warning”.   Over the years we’ve relabeled this tool to elevate and reflect [...]

To you fathers: Father’s Day is a great day. It presents itself as the annual kickoff to the summer where dads and kids can enjoy long days of playing outside deep into the evening warmth. Barbequed weekends showcase dad’s culinary skills with burgers, dogs, and corn on the cob right off the grill. Dad –the platform from which to jump in the water, the fountain of goofy laughter, the anchor in storms, the sun that [...]

It’s graduation season!  There are preschoolers graduating to Kindergarten, Kindergartners to Elementary School, Elementary to Middle School, Middle Schoolers to High School and so on. All graduations, to varying degrees, have commencement addresses.  These speeches are designed to impart wisdom and encourage students as they move to the next chapter in life. There is one commencement address that has really resonated with our family.  It has a simple message which is as applicable to the [...]

Parenting is a year-round process.  However, we found that summertime seemed to be a really productive and effective time in our parenting.  Maybe it was because many of the school year obligations and hectic schedules got dialed back and the excitement of sunshine, family vacations and barbecues filled our home.  Whatever the reason, we used our summertime excitement as a special time of the year to “super charge” some of our parenting initiatives while enjoying [...]