Parenting And The Myth Of Happiness

Tonight was one of those family dinners that just doesn’t go according to plan. “Mom! What is wrong with these carrots? Don’t you care about my food!?” “I don’t like chicken anymore.” “Dad! Charlie just poured his juice all over his food!” “You’re sitting on my chair! Off. My. Chair!!!” As I poured juice and peas down…

Tag: happiness, parenting-is-hard

10 Daily Habits To Transform Your Family This Year

One of the most shocking facts us working parents of younger kids have to face is this: for most days of the year, we have just 3 hours with them. That’s an 8th of every 24 hours. And that’s if you’re lucky. Time-sharing your kids with an ex, or traveling everyday to and from distant work, will cost…

Tag: family-habits

How To Not Waste Your Family Holiday: 12 Top Tips To Make A Good One Great

A family holiday tends to be far too short, and come around far too seldom, for us to blow it through a lack of thoughtfulness and intentionality. That’s why I wrote this blog. To help us parents make good family holidays even better. This subject is top of my mind at the moment. Julie and I, and our…

Tag: family-holidays

As Christmas Looms, Here’s Two Kinds Of Different

‘Christmas comes next month, so I want to talk to you guys about Stikeez and seeds.’ With these opening words in my speech, I riveted the 100-strong crowd of four-to-six year olds. Let me back up to how I came to address the entire preschool where two of my children attend. With the Season on its way, the…

Tag: Christmas

Two Secrets of Parenting

Last week I got skunked. But all was not lost. I discovered ‘the two secrets of parenting’. Skunked refers to the surfer’s frustration of carving out a rare gap in your super-busy, responsibility-laden week in the hope of finding some glassy waves, only to find unsurfable drivel. I wasn’t skunked alone. A buddy (of 25 years) was at…

Tag: chores, unconditional-love

8 Invaluable Life-lessons To Teach Our Kids (And To Live By Yourself)

I believe that, for boys especially but girls too, the best classroom is outdoor adventure. Adventures serve up many teachable moments. That’s because they are a microcosm of life – the kinds of things that go wrong or come up mid-adventure are the kinds of things that do so in the decades of life. Adventures also…

Tag: life-lessons

How to Overcome the Discontent that is Ruining Your Life. (Pt 2)

How to Overcome the Discontent that is Ruining Your Life. (Pt 2). These days, being discontent isn’t something we’re ashamed of – it’s something we kind of aspire to. Seemingly unaware of its devastating consequences, we allow it to live and grow in us – enriched by a never-ending stream of social media and clever marketing…

Tag: contentment, finances

How Discontent Ruins Your Life – And 4 Ways To Beat It. (Pt 1)

How Discontent Ruins Your Life – And 4 Ways To Beat It. (Pt 1) Why is it that more now than ever before, we buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we hardly like? Before I get into this, can I admit something? I wish I had more money than I do. Like almost…

Tag: contentment, finances

10 Ways To Slash Your Grocery Bill And Still Eat Healthy

10 Ways To Slash Your Grocery Bill And Still Eat Healthy. Feeding our family takes a massive bite out of Julie’s and my monthly income. Next to our mortgage, it is our largest expense by some way. It also seems to us that food takes a larger bite every year – not just because our…

Tag: finances, food, health

15 Ways To Save You A Heap Of Cash Every Month.

15 Ways To Save You A Heap of Cash Every Month. This post might cost you a few minutes to read, but it could save you a lot of money. In my previous post, I emphasized why we should spend less than we earn. The more money we don’t spend, the less stress we will…

Tag: finances