How to Be a Father
One of our goals in raising our children was to help them learn not to be picky eaters. We'd both seen the extra work, turmoil, and frustration in a family when one of the children was picky, only to see those same children grow up to eat things they'd rejected at home. Hearing tales from missionary friends…
We finally noticed a pattern. When one of our children got somewhere between nine and fourteen, they'd climb on an emotional rollercoaster and invite us all to join them. Wow, what a tough age to parent! The first time we went through it, we questioned everything, "Is it us? Have we failed in parenting? Is…
Folks, let me tell you this: It is a lot better to have pink underwear than no clean underwear at all. Get your guys doing chores! Here are some things that have helped us (and no, we don't do this perfectly - not remotely so!) Use manly marketing. If you say, "Sweetheart, could you make…
I have a question.. my boy is 5, 6 in two weeks and has an obsession with all things spooky. I allow him to do pirates and we read up on ancient Egypt and use the Horrible Histories series to fuel this 'addiction' (because it really does feel like that), but it isn't diluting his…
I was so excited to see that Caroline Allen's new Character Badges curriculum was a part of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle! I've heard Caroline talking about it and I've been wanting to take a look at it. (more…)
The message started, "[I] desperately need advice ..." ... My almost six year old always blames me or someone else for his behavior. We are very big on teaching our children accountability. It can be small and big things. Yesterday, I told him he had to put on a coat to go outside. He preceded…
Q. A mom came up to us at a conference where we'd been speaking about entrepreneurship, "My teenage son is constantly coming up with business ideas, but I'm afraid to let him try. What if he fails?" We are not doing our boys a service to protect them from ever failing. When we do that,…
Tonight, on Making Biblical Family Life Practical, we're discussing work! Is There Such A Thing BIBLICALLY As Men's Work, Women's Work? Is our view of what we should do colored more by the Bible or the 1950s? What can each member of the family do to keep the wheels turning (or the laundry washing)? Tune in…
Recently we asked our Facebook page what people wanted us to write about. Several asked "How can mothers have a good relationship with their sons?" Our friends Marilyn and Rick Boyer helped us a lot with this topic in the articles they called Learning to Delight in Your Children. It helped us to clarify something we've…
Moms tend to be big fans of Valentine's Day. We love relationship stuff, chocolate, hearts, and flowers. Boys? Not so much. Chocolate is good, but the rest is kind of gooshy. So what do we do about Valentine's Day in a houseful of boys? If you've been around here for awhile, you know we love…