Give the Gift of Connection
Tag family meals
4 Simple Mealtime Rules You and Your Kids Can Embrace
Mealtimes are a vital part of the rhythm of family life! “Research suggests that having dinner together as a family at least four times a week has positive effects on child development. Family dinners have been linked to a lower…
Struggling at the Family Dinner Table? How to Come Together & Enjoy
Did you know the most important piece of furniture in your home might be the family dinner table? And the quality of construction doesn’t matter. It’s all about the quality of connection you and your children cultivate over the years…
Questions to Put the THANKS Back in Thanksgiving
“So, kids, what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?” you ask. “My family, my house, my friends, my dog and Jesus.” (Same answers as last year….) If you think your kids might be open to some deeper thinking this year,…
Help Kids Handle “NO” by Getting Great at “YES!”
If you want your kids to respect and value your “no’s!” work harder on your “yeses!” It’s good to teach kids the various “No’s!” in life. The best foundation for doing this is to help them habitually experience the resounding…
What did Steve Jobs know about parenting that you don’t?
In a New York Times article, a journalist recalls how he once commented to Steve Jobs that his kids must love the iPod. Surprisingly Jobs replied bluntly, “They haven’t used it. We limit how much technology our kids use…
Why Your Discipline Often Backfires
Jayden has been struggling to sit still at the table. Each time he gets antsy he gets a warning. “If you keep that up you’ll get a time out!” He settles down for a moment and dinner carries on. But…
A Simple, Fun Cure for Dinner Time Chaos
Is dinner at your house a bit crazy? Perhaps it needs a little injection of purpose. When the meal is all about getting kids to settle down and eat their food, it’s bound to be a struggle. But when it’s…
Why did two teenage boys demand daily family devotions?
Zeke and Andrew are two teenage boys in a family that started building a tradition of reading the Bible together during Advent when they were pint-sized. Each night they lit the candle, read that day’s page from their advent book,…
7 Practical Tips for Picky Eaters
It is truly a God-given desire to feed your child healthy food. Unfortunately, this good desire can easily go awry when your child turns up his nose at what you consider to be essential nutrition. A child’s rejection of certain…
The Gift of Not Giving:
Have you noticed that Christmas aisles seem to be stocked earlier and earlier these days? Commercials for Black Friday “doorbusters” are rampant, and there is even controversy about some stores beginning their sales on Thanksgiving Day. The holiday materialism debate is not new: on…