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, [...]

Your most enduring accomplishment is the trusting and loving relationships you have with your spouse and your children. What you do each day at home matters. Even the simplest acts of love, kindness and respect have the power to affirm everyone in your home and set the tone. Every day, even if you don’t feel like you’ve accomplished anything, you and your spouse are creating a family culture and legacy that builds up a child’s [...]

When you send your young child over to play at a neighbor’s house, what kind of games will the older brother be playing? Will your child be treated with a parenting eye that you would approve of? What kind of treatment will the younger kids get from older siblings? Does your child’s friend have their own smartphone? Will the time be spent playing games or spent on social media? What kind of activities will be [...]

Let your love be stronger than your hate or anger. Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break. Believe the best rather than the worst. People have a way of living up or down to your opinion of them. Remember that true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship. The person you choose to marry is deserving of the courtesies and kindnesses you bestow on your friends. [...]

Before your child is 10 play this mental game: “Grab a live chicken. Got ‘em? Ok, now pluck all the feathers off the chicken. Get in there and pull them from the wings, the back, the tail. Get ‘em all. They all gone? Ok, now, put all the feathers back on the chicken.” A plucked chicken is good and plucked. Some decisions are irreversible. We played this game, and our adult children remember it. Here’s [...]

We read this terrific article in the Washington Examiner by Peter Laffin about America’s new favorite quarterback, C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans. It contrasts his humble attitude during a media interview to the ‘ME ME ME’ crowd characterized by LeBron James. Stroud didn’t seek self-glorification: “I’m just blessed enough to be the vessel that Christ picked to lead this great franchise,” he told NBC when asked about the game that sent them to the [...]

“Time is free, but it’s priceless.  You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back." Harvey Mackay Throughout our parenting journey, time seemed to be one of the hardest things to come by and manage.  There’s never enough time! Yet, we discovered that we did make time for the things that are important to us. In [...]

Our Encouraging Courage (Girls) Letter ,last week, was a neat little message that had clear edges and the takeaways fit the title where we came away looking like competent parents. But life isn’t always so cut and dried. Encouraging the heart can often seem like vague platitudes that miss the mark and confound parents and frustrate children. That was the case when dealing with our son Kevin whose sweet spirit was a puzzle to us in the [...]

These Letters are intended to provide you with whatever insights we have gained over the last 35 years of parenting and marriage.  Our perspectives are not comprehensive, just intending to spark thought on how to take your parenting and marriage to the next level of effectiveness.  There is so much to say to you which we hope is instructive and encouraging, perspectives we wish we had ‘back in the day’. We had to figure it [...]

“Be more patient, be an active listener, be consistent…” these are just some of the more common “Top Parenting Tips” you’ll find when searching around the Internet.  And we would agree with many of those tips.  However, we thought it would be fun, and encouraging, to provide you with our top ten parenting tips that have impacted us the most over the years. 10) Have fun and enjoy your kids – It was very easy for [...]