Helping propel moms & dads of 3 to 13 year-olds to invest in their power-decade of parenting. Father of 3 teenagers and pastor of 20 years turned digital writer.
500 Fridays: Don't Stop Telling Stories
Stories Shape FuturesKids gravitate towards great stories. So many of them follow “The Heroes Journey.” Classics like Moana or Toy Story are legendary kids movies because of how well they accomplish this. Stories in the lives of your kids, end up shaping and molding them. Stories capture the mind and heart. They are big and powerful. Stories aren't only fantasy. They are also the easiest point of leverage that we have to teach and connect with our kids. Stories are sticky. We tried to have a story filled home, though most of the time it felt like a correction facility to be honest. As adults, our lives are directed by the stories we grew up believing in and the ideas we hold on to today. As parents, the stories we tell our kids reveal what we believe matters. Think about what you gravitate towards and end up sharing with your 3-13 year old... Stories of rags to riches. The types of people or actions you endorse in your stories are the characteristics your kids will find honorable and repeatable. The books you read together. Your stories chart a course for your children. Choose your stories wisely because those stories shape your children's futures. See you next Friday, |
Power-Decade Parenting
Helping propel moms & dads of 3 to 13 year-olds to invest in their power-decade of parenting. Father of 3 teenagers and pastor of 20 years turned digital writer.
500 Fridays Newsletter - 2 min read Season: The Long Summers (1 of 11) A Volume of Words Repetition. It's how all people learn new things. Handwriting. Presenting. Cooking. Tying shoes. Throwing a ball. In families, the repetition of words matters ... a lot. They help form the thoughts and emotions that everyone carries in the back recesses of their minds. Repetition leaves life-long grooves. As a parent there will be words that you say without much intention on a frequent basis. They can be...
500 Fridays Newsletter - 2.5 min read Season: The Springtime (11 of 11) The Payoff of Doing Hard Things Am I being too soft on them?Am I being too hard on them? I questioned my approach all the time as a dad when we were doing the daily work of raising our kids. I know I worried more that I was too hard on them when they were younger and too soft on them as they grew older. But I wanted them to be ready for real life. I hoped they'd develop some grit. I prayed they would be able to withstand...
500 Fridays Newsletter - 3.5 min read Season: The Springtime (9 of 11) The Guilt The summer schedule is descending, and power-decade parents everywhere are now caught in the emotional battle. Yeah, for more time with kids, and Oh-No, for what to do with all the time with the kids. The increase in the amount of time together during the summer days brought out a lot of my head trash as a parent. I was more afraid of the things we were getting wrong than what I might be doing right with my kids....