By February, many of our families are back into the swing of the new year and all that entails. We are back into school rhythms, sports, homework, etc. This month offers another great opportunity for teaching and training our children. With so much focus this month on Valentine’s Day, why not seize this time to teach our children more about love. We can focus on sibling love, loving our neighbor, modeling romantic love and setting up some fun family traditions as well.   Speak into their hearts We can use this season to pour into our children emotionally. When our […]

My best Christmas recollection as a child actually began on summer vacation. I was about eight years old, and my dad and I were walking through the tourist village where we were vacationing. I saw a pair of red, knit slippers with fake leather soles and Indian beads on top. They were those ugly slippers that were basically thick socks with a sole sewn on so you could walk outside. I repeat, ugly! My Best Christmas When I saw them, I said to my dad, “I bet mom would like those,” thinking he would spend the eight dollars and get […]

We are heading into a season of opportunity. For some families Thanksgiving and Christmas can help define who they are. For others these holidays are little more than eating and expense. Where do family traditions fit in? Traditions might just be the most important part of this holiday season. In fact, Tevye, in “Fiddler on the Roof,” kept singing that traditions were the signposts that kept a family going in difficult times. Where did our traditions go? For some reason many homes left the traditions at grandma’s house. Traditions are the repetitive activities that can help children feel as if […]