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.
Family Friday: The Significance of Slow Growth
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β β A Single Sentence from a Season Ahead
The Question: β"What did you guys do to create the lasting connectedness you have with your kids?" β βMy Reply: βWhatever we did, we always did it together. β Truths From TreesSometimes there are great parenting lessons that are hidden inside other family groups. For instance, animal families have their own special names. Lions: A Pride π¦ In the world of arboriculture (ok, that's just a fancy word for trees) we call a group either a Grove or Forest π²π²π²π² There are a surprising number of great lessons that power-decade parents can learn from a family of trees. Slow vs Fast GrowthMost young tree saplings spend the early decades of life under the shade of their mother tree's canopy. Limited sunlight means that they grow slowly. Slow growth, of course, leads to hard, dense, and strong wood. Something entirely different happens if you plant a tree by itself out in an open field. Free from the shade of bigger trees, the sapling gorges itself on sunlight and grows too fast. Fast growth leads to soft, airy wood that doesn't have time to become dense. Soft, airy wood is a breeding ground for fungus, disease, and a much shorter life overall. A tree that grows fast also rots quickly and therefore never has a chance to grow old. Another invaluable effect of the grove for a young sapling is the root system. An old, dense, and sturdy tree has years of roots that run deep into the ground. A slow-growing tree in a grove has the benefit of intertwined roots that will benefit it for decades as it grows taller. An isolated tree, planted by itself, not only grows too quickly but lacks any of the supporting underground structures. 7 Parent Take-AwaysSo what can we learn from a family of trees that can affect your parenting for the next decade? Here are a few things we learned in our home...
Do you consider your home to be a "raise them slowly" kind of family? In what ways have you provided shade or kept your kids from growing up too quickly? I'd love to hear if you'd reply back and let me know! FYI: Mom and Dad, you can always read old newsletters right here! β |
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.
Family Friday Newsletter - 3 min read by: Finley Robinson A Single Sentence from a Season Ahead One of the gifts you can give your kids is to be a brick wall in a few carefully chosen areas of their life. No More Scale How often do you feel guilt as a parent? Somedays I wonder if parents in the 1950s felt guilt in a similar way as parents today or if it's a more modern feeling. They probably did, but still, I wonder. More than any other stage, when you're in the power-decade of parenting, the...
Family Friday Newsletter - 2 min read by: Finley Robinson A Single Sentence from a Season Ahead Freedom as a parent arrives when you accept that you're going to get a lot right and also a lot you wish you did differently. How Did You Do It? I get this question about once a week from young parents I talk with. Maybe it's because I don't have the π© look on my face as much anymore like most parents of 3-13 year olds. Maybe it's because when I talk about my kids now my face is more π€© than it has...
Family Friday Newsletter - 3 min read by: Finley Robinson A Single Sentence from a Season Ahead Parenting is a lot like gardening, where beauty only arrives on the other side of tedious effort. Teach Delayed Gratification A lot has changed for families since my wife and I became parents 20 years ago. The biggest and most noticeable difference I see today is the speed to appease that is possible in our society. Think about how quickly someone in your family can think of something they want and...