Does your family embody an attitude of gratitude? When shaping your family identity, do you actively cultivate and teach the importance of gratitude? One of the many reasons we cherish the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to Christmas, is that it offers a fantastic opportunity to strengthen our family identity through traditions that encourage our family to internalize the virtue of gratitude. Family Identity with Family Traditions Family identity is an anchor for you and your [...]

Throughout our parenting journey, one parenting tool that we have utilized the most is planting seeds.  While the generic concept of planting seeds is not new, our friends Dave and Lis provided us with a perspective that took the concept to a new level in our parenting with a 2 step approach: Planting seeds – Initiate a significant idea or topic with a question Cultivation – Ongoing conversation follow up This tool has been particularly helpful [...]

Sunday, September 8, 2024 was Grandparents Day.  Unfortunately, this special day usually passes each year with little notice.  Grandparents are blessing and should probably be honored more that we do.  Sometimes, we can let our own relationship with our parents affect their relationship with our children.  Here is a letter we posted previously that may provide you with some insights that you may or may not have considered in the Grandparent/Mom & Dad relationship dynamic. [...]

Parenting is a year-round process, yet summer brings a unique opportunity to amplify our parenting efforts. The relaxed pace of the season, with its sunshine and family activities, provides an ideal backdrop for “supercharging” our parenting initiatives while enjoying the fun of the season together. We’ve always been proponents of goal setting and planning, as evidenced in our Tuesday Letters. That’s why we’ve crafted a Summertime Checklist—a guide to help you prepare or revisit parenting strategies [...]