Family Friday Newsletter - 2 min read by: Finley Robinson

A Single Sentence from a Season Ahead

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 good, bad, or meaningless words.

What we learned was the importance of repeated powerful words.

In our family, we chose to use the following phrase over and over again. We believed it would carry our kids through the turbulent waves of school and social life. Our family motto is...

Courage of the Heart.
Attitude of the Mind.

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• When they had to take the field for a big game.
• When they had a fight with their brother or sister.
• When they had to hop out of the car for school drop off.
• When they had a difficult project they couldn't seem to finish.

Why did we choose that phrase? Because we believed it would be an anchor point for our family. It also was unique to us. It sounded like us and summed up a lot of who we wanted our kids to grow up to be.

We didn't set out to have a family motto, but once we stumbled into it, we repeated it often. We saw how powerful it would become.

Not long ago I was helping my daughter fill out a college essay and she brought up our repeated family saying. I was so proud. It had made its way deep into her heart and mind.

That's how repeated words stick. It's how kids carry your values and vision forward throughout their life.

Summer Project

What if you had a family motto that acted like a set of floaties for your kids? There might be something you already repeat often or you might want to try on a few for size over time. Sometimes they are passed down for generations.

Find a phrase or saying and then ... verbalize it often. Have them repeat it back. You say it. They say it. Use it once a week in a different situation for a while.

Kids are swimming in a big scary ocean sometimes. Your repeated family motto will give them a lifeline and a flotation device to stay above water.

Did you have a family motto growing up? Do you have one already?

If so, will you reply back share it with me?!? I love keeping a record of them all from families I interact with.

See you next Friday,

Finley