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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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10 Stay at Home Date Night Ideas
Date Night has become a household term in recent years and many couples strive to make this quality time together a priority in our increasingly fast paced lives. Throw some kids into the mix (or in our case a granddaughter), and it’s even harder to carve out quality couple time. Not to worry because finance guru Dave Ramsey has come to our rescue with not only a whole host of date night ideas, but most of them are budget friendly. We’d like to highlight 10 of Dave’s Stay at Home Date Night ideas!
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What did we sign up for?
Photo by Rene Asmussen from Pexels You’re standing there on your wedding day. You’re dressed in clothes fit for a prince and princess. All your family and friends have gathered. You’ve spent months planning to make this the absolute most. perfect. day. ever.
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Marriage Magic
Photo Credit: Jared Lind on Unsplash As we become immersed in this holiday season we are drawn to the magic. Recall the wonder and awe of your childhood, reindeers that fly and a Santa who made dreams come true. Fast-forward several decades. Remember the rush of feelings when you knew your spouse was ‘the one‘. You reveled in discovering this person who showered you with love and support.
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Scorekeeping in Marriage
“Scorekeeping” in our marriage can lead to resentment. It starts with an attitude of “I deserve more” where we keep a tally of all the things we do for our spouse. “I did the laundry so he should do the dishes.” This is compounded by the fact that men and women keep score differently.
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Got Money Arguments?
When couples have conversations about money, it often leads to disagreements, defensiveness, and arguments. Why is it so difficult to talk about finances? Conversations about money usually aren’t JUST about money. We all have underlying feelings (some very strong) about money. Fear. Insecurity. Resentment. Our past experiences affect how we deal with money. When we talk with our spouse about how to spend or save, all those memories and feelings start to surface.
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What are you passionate about?
Jen: Passion is defined as an intense desire or enthusiasm for something. In my life, I’m passionate about our children – making sure they are loved and supported, helping them become responsible adults. I’m passionate about my work, helping kids develop a love of reading. I’m also passionate about my hobby of quilting, trying to create art through fabric. All of these things fill me with an intense desire and enthusiasm in varying degrees.
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Affirmations That Will Make Your Heart Soar!
Photo Credit: Peter Boccia on Unsplash In our last post, we shared with you 50 ways to live an Intentional Marriage. This week we want to focus on one — the Power of Affirmation. The effects of self-affirmation and the power of positive thinking are well know in self-help literature. Being affirmed by your spouse elevates this power exponentially. In this post we will talk about what constitutes a good affirmation and why it is so effective, especially in the presence of others.
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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.
