The Best Type of Home Environment

The home is a place where children should feel safe and where the spirit can be. It is the best environment that you can create for your children. This type of home builds love between family members and it makes other feel welcome in the home. It is the type of house that all of the friends love to visit. As parents we set the tone of the house. It is important to treat each family member with respect. The children will treat you and each other with the same respect that they are treated with at home. This does … Continue reading

Back to School Plans

One of the best parts about sending the kids back to school is that it is the prefect time to change your family routine. It is a time that you can recommit yourself and your family to things such as family prayer and scripture study as well as family home evening. Here are some back to school scheduling and planning trips that will prevent the most important things from being lost in the shuffle. First it is important to set aside a specific time each day that you will have family prayer and scripture study. It may be before school … Continue reading

Where’s Your Family’s Focus?

The family is the central unit to the church. When you realize that, you should also realize that the family should have the focus of teaching your children about the gospel. The church has instructed us to have family home evening, family prayer and family scripture study to do these things. There are are all things that we can do to teach our children the gospel. There have been times when my family is really focused on the gospel and times when they are not so much. When we make the gospel and Christ the focus of the family everything … Continue reading

Teaching Children Self Reliance

Often when we think about preparedness and self-reliance the focus turns to food storage and a financial reserve, but have you prepared your children for adulthood? Have you taught them self-reliance? These are important skills to teach your children. It is not fun for a child to go off to college and not know the basic skills to take care of their laundry or how to cook. But there are additionally skills you should teach your children as well. One important skill that you should be teaching your children is to manage money well. You can do this in many … Continue reading

LDS Mother’s Day Gift Suggestions

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and you may be wondering what you can get your mom, wife or other loved one for Mother’s Day. I think it is important to remember all of the women in your life on this special day, even if they are not mothers. Any woman who reaches out to bless the lives of those around them deserves to be remembered. Here are five Mother’s day gifts for LDS women. First the Worldwide Ward Cookbook would make a great gift. This is a compilation of recipes from members all over the world. There are … Continue reading

Peaceful Family Life

Every so often I wonder at whether or not my home environment is everything I want it to be. Before I had children I really worked to have a peaceful home environment. I kept the house picked up, and managed to keep the noise level very low and peaceful. And I managed to do okay with one child, and it only got a little bit worse with two, but with three children, it is a struggle to create that environment in my home. And so I had to rethink what I meant by a peaceful home environment. Now I still … Continue reading

How Did Your Family’s Goals Go?

How did your resolutions go for this year? The end of the first month is a great time to look at how far you have come, and areas that you may need to adjust. You may also want to adjust your goals slightly and change the stepping stones so that you can reach your goals. This is a great time to teach your children. Being open in your attempts, successes and failures teach your children the importance of continuing to work for your dreams. It can also demonstrate to them that we have the opportunity to start over and try … Continue reading

New Year’s Goals for the Family

The New Year is a great time to sit down and make goals as a family. You can do this as a family home evening lesson or in a family council meeting. It is an easy time to trade job assignments and to check in with your children. You may choose to allow their goals to be private as well. One excellent family goal is to spend more time together. You can make a goal that the family spend one Saturday a month together in some sort of activity. It is important to spend fun time with your children apart … Continue reading

Juggling Extended Family During the Holidays

If you live close to home or if your family and your spouse’s family is from the same area you may find yourself juggling a lot of family activities along with your church activities. It can be tiring to find time for yourself and your own family when you are rushing from party to party. First you need to make sure that you are not letting these events get in the way of the things that are most important. Make sure that you continue to have scripture study and family prayer every day with your family. You should continue to … Continue reading

Creating New Christmas Traditions

When you are first married, you may find yourself pulled here and there juggling between two different families, but when your kids become a bit older, it is a good idea to carve out your own family traditions. There are a variety of things you can do over the holidays to create memories that will last forever. Christmas caroling is one tradition that seems to have fallen out of style lately, but it is a great way to spread the holiday cheer. You can carol in your neighborhood, in your ward, or at a hospital or nursing home. You can … Continue reading