A Boy’s Lessons in Dishonesty (Free Character Training Lesson)

Today I have a fun freebie for you!

I have found that one of the best ways to teach character lessons to my son is to read him stories about little boys that have a lesson engrained in them.  He really seems to relate to the boys in the story and it helps him learn the lesson a lot better than if I just told him how he should act.

Download this story with sketch illustrations: A Boy's Lessons in Dishonesty

Your download will include the pictures in powerpoint format along with the story, or you can choose a PDF version to print out and read to your child.

When you join our email community below, you'll receive instant access to the downloadable files.

Awesome! It's great to see other parents striving to train their children for the glory of God!  CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FILES.

5 Reasons We Use Covenant Eyes to Protect Our Family Online

Have you heard of Covenant Eyes internet accountability and filtering?

Our family finds the money we spend on this service to be more than worth it!

Here are some reasons why:

1. Separate users  and multiple devices– you can add different members of your family and configure the settings to be most suitable for them.  For example – for young children, you could set it up for them to be allowed on one or two websites to play educational games.  For teenagers, you could select the strongest filtering so that they can browse and do school research without the ability to accidentally land on an inappropriate website.  The administrator can enter their password to allow access to a website that has been blocked but doesn’t necessarily need to be.  If your family has multiple, you can install the software on everyone's computer, tablet, or phone so that everyone is protected wherever they go!

2. Internet Filtering – select as strong or weak of a filter as you feel you need, and make the strength different depending on the user.

3.Internet Accountability – Besides filtering out content that could potentially cause you to stumble in your Christian walk, you can also ask a friend or relative to be your accountability partner.  Covenant Eyes will send regular reports via email of your online activity to the partner(s) of your choice.  You can have as many accountability partners as you wish and choose the frequency of the report (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).  The report will show your accountability partner how much time you’ve spent online, what webpages you visited or attempted to visit, the search terms you used, and even whether you tried to uninstall Covenant Eyes from your computer.

4. Time filtering – one of the more subtle ways the devil uses the internet against us is by tempting us to use it to waste time.  If you struggle with wasting time on the internet, you can take advantage of the time filters on Covenant Eyes.  You can restrict internet usage to a certain number of hours per week or day or you can choose to block internet usage during certain times of the day.

5. Resources for families and churches – Covenant Eyes offers free e-books on topics relating to Family Protection, Pornography Use and Recovery, and Helps for Churches to address the subject of pornography.  They also have a great blog with many informative and thought-provoking posts.

If you are serious about protecting your family online, I encourage you to look into a Covenant Eyes subscription.

SIGN UP HERE AND GET YOUR FIRST MONTH FREE!

Accounts start at $9.99 per month, and there is a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the service.  (Although I'm confident you will be!)

Huggies Snug and Dry Ultra Diapers (And How to Win $2000 Toward the Project of Your Choice!)

Want to win $2000 toward a community project just by loving on your babies?

Of course you do!  And it's easy!

Here's the scoop:

1. Share a selfie of you and baby on Twitter or Instagram and nominate a community
   project in need such as a local park, playground, or rec-center. Tag the post with
   #UltraHug.
2. You can post between now and June 25 to enter. Beginning July 6, Huggies will feature
   20 of the nominated projects HERE. The top 10 will receive community project grants of $2000!

Here's my selfie on Instagram:

Just enjoying a morning cuddling with my little princess! #Ultrahug

Before I posted my selfie, though, I took my little sweetie on a quick trip to Walmart to grab some Snug & Dry Ultra diapers.

She had fun picking them out!

The new Huggies® Snug & Dry Ultra Diapers, which are available exclusively at Walmart, now
offer improved protection at a better value.  With up to 12 hours of long-lasting leakage protection, they keep baby dry and comfortable.

Mom certainly doesn't mind the Walmart price for such long-lasting protection!

And of course, one just absolutely cannot beat the loads of fun to be had unloading the diapers from the box!

And closing the box back up nice and neat when we're finished is a must!

I'm looking forward to seeing your #UltraHug selfies on Twitter and Instagram!  Follow me there as I'll be posting reminders throughout the month!

How to Remind Kids to Do their Work (Without Nagging!)

Today I have a simple parenting tip for you.

I know you're working hard at following through when you've given your child a job to do.  (I am too!  It's hard to stay on top of it, isn't it?!)

We don't want our kids to take the easy way out all the time and leave responsibilities unfulfilled, but it feels like you're nagging them all the time when you're constantly having to remind them to get a job done.

I suppose it comes with the mom territory, but no mom wants to feel like she's constantly nagging her kids.

So here's how I remind my kids to do what they need to do without nagging them:

I make a statement that gives them the benefit of the doubt.

For example:

“I'm assuming you were about to take the trash out, right?”
“I'm assuming you haven't forgotten to finish your piano practice?”
“You were planning on putting that away when you're finished, right?”

This way the statement reminds them and reinforces what needs to be done without either one of us feeling like I am constantly saying “Do this.  Do that.”

I know when I was a kid I would get so frustrated when I really was getting ready to unload the dishwasher and then mom reminded me.  Here I was all happy that I had actually remembered on my own and then being reminded took the wind right out of my sails.  My kids have said similar things to me.  (“It's no fun doing it when I don't get to do it without being told!”)

But at the same time I can't just let everything go undone and hope that they'll eventually remember to do it.  I have to say something, so hopefully phrasing it as a statement assuming that they are already on it takes a little of the sting out of being reminded to do their jobs.

Okay, moms, weigh in!  What are your best tips for reminding kids to do their work?

Dear Mom, Thank You For All the Stuff You Didn’t Want to Do

Dear Mom,

Today I want to recognize you for all the things you didn't want to do.

It may seem a little strange that I'm not telling you all the wonderful things you did.   That doesn't seem very honoring.

But you know what?  It's all the things you didn't want to do that make me realize how amazing you are.

When you were tired and ready to fall in your bed, you didn't want to come tuck me in, sing me “just one more song”, or rub my growing-pain riddled legs.  But you did it anyway.

When you had a headache, you didn't want to cook supper and get the laundry done.  But you did it anyway.

When there wasn't enough supper to go around, you didn't want to give up your own helping, but you did it anyway.

When you had an overwhelming to-do list, you didn't want to take the time to teach me how to “help you”.  But you did it anyway.

When you needed a little alone time, you didn't want to spend it reading books to me.  But you did it anyway.

When I got sick and left a pukey mess on the carpet, you didn't want to clean it up.  But you did it anyway.

When  I was being naughty, you didn't want to discipline me for the 15th time for the same thing.  But you did it anyway.

Even today, you still do things you don't want to do.

When you have plans for a productive day, you don't want to give it up to watch my kids.  But you do it anyway.

When you're tired and just want to go to bed, you don't want to cook supper for my family.  But you do it anyway.

When you've just gotten in the groove of a project, you don't want to be interrupted by a long, in-depth phone conversation with me.  But you do it anyway.

All these things you didn't want to do don't prove you're a bad mother.  They prove you're an amazing mother.  What sacrifice is it to read another story, cook another meal, or babysit (again!) if you really don't mind?  It's not.  But you gave up your own desires for my benefit, and that's sacrifice. 

Jesus spent a good deal of time in the Garden of Gethsemane telling God that if there was any other way of salvation than for him to suffer the agony of the cross, he most certainly would take Him up on it.  He didn't want to go to the cross.  But he did it anyway.  That's true love!

And when you as a mother are faced with the things you don't want to do and you do them anyway, that's love.

Real, selfless love.

Thank you, mom, for doing all the things you didn't want to do.  Just because you loved me.

Motivate Your Child (Plus a Huge Giveaway!)

A while back I reviewed the book, Motivate Your Child: A Christian Parent's Guide to Raising Kids Who Do What They Need to Do Without Being Told.

(You can read that review here.)

I don't normally do book reviews just because it is time-consuming, but this is such a great book for parents!  When I was asked if I wanted to review the follow-up book, Motivate Your Child Action Plan, I knew I had to say yes!

That review will be coming soon (I was not disappointed at all, by the way!), but in the meantime, we wanted to get you excited about learning more with an amazing giveaway!

To celebrate the release of Motivate Your Child Action Plan, we are joining other members of the Launch Team in a wonderful giveaway filled with an iPod Touch, $50 iTunes Gift Card and several biblical parenting products! A value of nearly $350! Here's what you could win:

Apple iPod touch 16GB Black/Silver  ($195 value)

• In the Box – iPod Touch, Apple EarPods, Lightning to USB cable, QuickStart guide
• Brilliant 4 Retina display with Multi-Touch IPS technology
• Front-Facing FaceTime camera with 1.2MP photos & 720p HD video recording.
• iOS 6 features – Siri, Apple Designed Maps, Integrated Facebook, Shared Photo Streams, Passbook & more

iTunes Gift Card ($50 value)

Because you'll need apps and music for that iPod Touch!

The Christian Parenting Handbook and Companion Guide ($56.95 value)

The Christian Parenting Handbook contains nuggets of parenting wisdom condensed into 50 short chapters, each one biblical, practical, and relevant for parents of children ages 2-18. Learn appropriate ways to correct, instruct, and set limits. Glean wisdom for dealing with emotions, conflict, and developing closeness in your family… and much more. These 50 strategies provide you with hands-on tools for parenting children of any age.  The Companion Guide is a workbook of 50 lessons along with 50 audio tips to take you through The Christian Parenting Handbook step by step. Each lesson contains advice from Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller in a 5 minute audio tip and then offers teaching, an assignment, a Bible verse, and a prayer to help you apply each idea or strategy in your family. The tips are available to you as MP3 downloads and access to them comes in the workbook.

Family Time Activities Book Bundle ($45 value)

Your kids will have fun learning about God's Word and how it applies to their lives. Science experiments, art activities, and games are all designed to reinforce spiritual truth. Each lesson is clear and simple, yet profound even for parents! You'll teach kids how exciting it is to learn about God and his ways. Your kids will love these books, but more importantly you'll build spiritual memories of Family Time in your home. Titles in this giveaway include:  Seeing Is Believing  Playing for Keeps  Running the Race Enter the Giveaway using the Rafflecopter below! This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY to those 18 years of age or older. Void where prohibited by law. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Join us for the Action Plan Facebook Party on Wednesday, May 20 at 9:00PM ET. There will be even more prizes and giveaways there and the authors of Action Plan will be present to answer your questions! The winner of this giveaway will be announced at the Facebook party!

RSVP here for the Party!