After Dave spanked our son for doing nothing other than being a little boy, he came back to bed totally defeated. “I have no idea what I’m doing.” Lis was pregnant with Michelle and was due in a month. So in anticipation of the new arrival, we moved Daniel to a ‘big boy bed’ well in advance so he didn’t feel kicked out by his sibling. The first night Daniel got out of bed repeatedly. [...]
Have you ever considered the temperaments or taken a temperament test? Shelly and Trevor are Phlegmatic while Rich and Alex are Choleric. These are the temperaments in our family. Like love languages, temperaments are a tool that help us to describe our emotional/personality characteristics. We have found that knowing our own temperament and our boys’ temperaments has been very helpful in our parenting and understanding some of the dynamics in our relationships. We have also [...]
Disagreements are a part of married life. Often they are temporary misperceptions of intent and priority. Sometimes little irritations accumulate over time and are like small items not put away until you look around and see that things are a mess. These little irritations can easily be blown out of proportion where discussions can lead to accusations of character flaws, indifference to shared priorities, and even loss of love. Our early marriage went down this [...]
One of the greatest joys you can experience as a parent is when your child lets you into their private world. What is the private world? It is a special place where we hold deeper thoughts, treasured memories, and we feel the most vulnerable. It is the essence of who we are. The private world is what we share with our spouse and only our closest, most trusted friends. As our children begin to grow [...]
Just Dave writing today. One of the major interests Lis and I have is doing what we can to help marriages strengthen and succeed. These OneFamily letters from us and the Howards are examples of that. The intent is to provide you with the combined 25 years in leading parenting classes and the combined 52 years of marriage that somehow we can come up with a thought or two that will make your lives more [...]
Current research shows us that having a shared Family Mealtime has huge benefits for marriages and families. A recent Cornell University Report tells us that families who share meals together, at least 3 meals per week, will: Have improved psychological well-being Increase academic achievement Establish healthy communication Significantly decrease the risk for eating disorders or becoming overweight Create “space/margin” from a hectic day Build healthy relationships among all family members Develop feelings of closeness and [...]
With New Year’s coming up, many of us are thinking about our resolutions for 2016. Losing weight, eating healthier, paying off debt, quitting smoking and drinking less are among the most common resolutions according to research. However, there is one resolution you might consider that will rejuvenate your spirit and help you with all your other resolutions. Engage in Community! When most people think of “community”, they usually think of volunteering or awkwardly associating with [...]
For the Howards, this is our favorite time of year. It’s a great time to reflect upon our blessings, enjoy many family traditions, and refocus our perspective on our life’s priorities. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year! However, in all that wonderfulness, it can also be the most stressful time of the year! Between Christmas shopping, decorating the house (Inside and Out), mailing out 10 million Christmas Cards, baking that never [...]
Just to give you a little context as to what OneFamily Tuesday letters are all about, it’s Lis and Dave Marr along with Shelly and Rich Howard trying to figure out what might be meaningful, enlightening, entertaining, and worth your time week in and week out. Some weeks are better than others. But the thing about these letters that are as typical as life itself, a single bite of food will be consumed and used [...]