Last week we shared Part 1 of Harmony with the Grandparents. ____________________________________________ “Hey Dad, can we talk for a minute?” “Sure, what’s up?” “I need to bring something up that’s an issue that is delicate. It’s about Mom and my wife.” “Ok, I’m listening.” “Well, I need to start by saying that I love you very much. I enjoy getting together and sharing my life with you. To see you playing with the kids and [...]

A functional relationship with the previous generation is a blessing to your family. The holiday gatherings, text banter, the regular FaceTime, weekend dinners with Grandma and Grandpa – your kids can grow up with a wholesome intergenerational connectedness that grounds them in a lifetime of wellbeing. But sometimes the relationship with parents or in-laws is such that harmony isn’t on the menu. There are a surprising number of marriages where the relationship with parents don’t [...]

As much as we enjoy Halloween, we were always glad when it was behind us.  Sure, we enjoyed many aspects of trick or treating like the time a 4-year-old Elvis impersonator came to the door and said, “Thank you.  Thank you very much” in his deepest little voice.  But, with all the fun and excitement, there is also a certain kind of craziness that is driven by the childhood narcotic – Candy.  It’s as if [...]

Blah. Blah blah. Blah. Blah, blah, blah! This is the sound or noise that children, spouses, and friends hear when we try to communicate during times of conflict.  Meaningful conversations and effective communication never occur when people are angry, frustrated, exhausted, feeling defensive or mentally preoccupied.  You cannot teach a child the principles of self-control while they are having a “level 10” meltdown in the grocery store.  Nor can you discuss marital issues (parenting, finances, [...]

A Three-Part Series on Sports, Activities & Academics Competitive Youth Sports & Activities Gone Wild The Real Value of Youth Sports & Activities Academics: Grades & School Work Parenting is one of the most prideful areas of adult life and it can foster extreme emotions.  When our children become kindergartners, we will rejoice in our child’s perfect behavior and then become horrified when we get reports of misbehavior from the teacher.  In elementary school, we [...]

A Three-Part Series on Sports, Activities & Academics Competitive Youth Sports & Activities Gone Wild The Real Value of Youth Sports & Activities Academics: Grades & School Work In our country, we are blessed to have wonderful youth sports programs for kids that do so much more than teach children skills for playing sports. Sports and activities teach kids about life while providing health benefits, increased prosocial behavior, improved emotional and psychological health, increased academic [...]

A Three-Part Series on Sports, Activities & Academics Competitive Youth Sports & Activities Gone Wild The Real Value of Youth Sports & Activities Academics: Grades & School Work As we kick off the Fall season, you might be in the thick of youth sports or other competitive activities (music, science, debate, scouts, etc..). Not too long ago, we were in thick of travel baseball and hockey along with competitive football… not to mention academics!  We are [...]

When our boys were younger, we overloaded and overwhelmed our lives by trying to take advantage of every opportunity life presented – School activities, Sports, Etc. We naively thought balance and getting less busy in our lives would somehow occur on its own; thinking we had plenty of time and life would get less overwhelming in the near future.  Fortunately, we discovered that life’s balance doesn’t just happen on its own.  So, we came up [...]