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Empty Nest – Syndrome or Summit?
Janine: I remember when we had three children under the age of 5. One thing I fantasized about was being able to leave the house someday WITHOUT a diaper bag. I didn’t know if that day would ever come. In the midst of the wild and crazy parenting years, I couldn’t imagine what life would be like after kids. Before we knew it…our youngest child went off to college.
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Getting Teens to Talk
Do you have teenagers? Maybe this sounds familiar: Interested Parent: “How was school today sweetheart?” Moping teenager, “Fine.” “Is everything OK?” “Yup.” “Anything you want to talk about?” “Nope.” Good talk.
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50 Ways to Engage Kids
Photo Credit: Jahir Martinez on Unsplash.com “A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.” This anonymous quote (sexist wording and all) caught our eye and caused us to reflect on fun times with our kids. As wonderful as children are, they add expense to any family budget. Kids need love and attention; they thrive when you engage with them. Fortunately engaging doesn’t have to break the budget. Engaging also creates screen-free time, lifelong values and memories. We’ll close with a list of 50 of our favorite ways to engage kids that cost little to nothing and are all screen-free.
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Parenting 101 – United We Stand
One of the most challenging things in our marriage was learning to raise responsible, caring, well-adjusted children. Now that our children are adults, we are back to child-rearing mode with our two year old granddaughter who lives with us. Here are 6 lessons we’ve learned.
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Time for a Marriage Getaway? “Here’s Yer Sign”
You proposed. She accepted. White dress, wedding bells. New house, new bills. Kids. Jobs. TV. Internet. Full calendar. What happened? What’s next? Photo by Alyssa Ledesma on Unsplash We thought our marriage was “fine” but we were focused on running from one kid’s sports to the next kid’s music lessons. There wasn’t time for those long talks about our future. Even though we thought the honeymoon would last forever…it didn’t. We were more focused on the kids than on each other. As the romance faded, we gradually became more aware of each others’ flaws. We lost sight of who WE were as a couple.
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The Happiest Place on Earth – NOT (this time)
We recently went to Disneyland with our adult daughter and our 2 year old granddaughter. All three adults had high hopes for a fun-filled family time at the “happiest” place on earth. When naysayers told us we were crazy for taking a two year old to Disneyland, we scoffed at them. We’ve been there, done this before. But we hadn’t been there, done that with a toddler. The crowds, a cranky toddler, and plenty of unmet expectations led to a communication breakdown that was a debacle for all of us. None of us ended up having much fun and we left a day early.
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Ugh, Mom and Dad, no PDA!
Nick: Call it a “sixth sense,” but I can tell when my kids’ eyes are on Jen and me. I can practically hear their eyes rolling whenever we touch each other.
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Keeping Up with the Jones’s
Jen: As we approach the craziness of a new school year with our kiddos, I am struck once again by how tempting it is to compete with other parents in comparing kid activities. Even when they were in pre-school, I can remember having conversations about where my kids were developmentally and what their achievements were. I can remember how much angst I felt when I thought someone else’s child was achieving more than mine simply because I hadn’t signed them up for enough extra activities. I found myself doubting that we were doing enough to help our children reach their full potential.
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3 Tips to Make Your Marriage Thrive
Photo Credit: Estee Janssens We hope this summer found you thriving, with plenty of time in the sun to relax and catch up with family and friends. As these carefree days come to an end, we have some tips to help you continue to thrive. Fall gets busy —
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In-Laws or Outlaws?
Paul: For many married couples, in-laws can be a source of great stress and discontent. We are fortunate that our experience has been very different. When we were first married, I really appreciated how my parents treated Stephanie like their own daughter. They engaged her in meaningful conversation, sought out her opinion about things, and made it a point to include her in all family events.
