Renew your wedding vows. It doesn't have to be anything elaborate. You can even surprise your children. Just tell them you have something planned for this Valentine's night. When the time comes, repeat the same vows you took on your wedding day, or use different words. The point is to show each other and your kids how committed you are to your marriage. Finish up the evening showing them your wedding album...
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My wife, Susan, and I knew a couple…let's call them Sally and Greg. They were always so sweet and kind to each other…so affectionate and attentive. We always looked at their marriage and wondered why ours wasn't as wonderful. Well, shortly after we drooled over this dreamy relationship, they went through a terrible divorce. What seemed like a magical marriage publicly was actually a dreadful relationship...
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After a couple announces the engagement, everyone shifts into preparation mode. A lot of time is spent on guest lists, the ceremony, and the honeymoon. It's easy to get so caught up in thinking about the wedding day preparations that sometimes couples forget about preparation for a lifetime of marriage. So take time to really get to know each other, ask hard questions and go to pre-marital counseling before you...
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Does it sound something like this? "What do you want to do tonight?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" "I don't know… is there anything at the movies?" Then you find yourself sitting in a dark theater, not talking to each other, watching a movie you really didn't want to see anyway. Instead, do something different. Go for an evening picnic at the beach or lake. Play tennis. Go bowling. Check out your...
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The list of "I wants" can go on and on. For kids it's, "I want that video game." "I want that scooter." For us, it's, "I want that car." "I want that couch." No matter what we have, there's always more. Henry David Thoreau said, "We make ourselves rich by making our wants few." Most of us already have what we need… it's just a matter of controlling what we want. So, the next time someone in your family wants to...
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That's a question children hear all the time. And we enjoy hearing their answers…a doctor, a teacher, a fireman, a ballerina. But what if the question was not about what they wanted to do for a living but who they wanted to be as a person? Less about career and more about character. Imagine your child answering, "I want to be a person of integrity…of wisdom…of courage and conviction. I want to be...
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If your kids have a difficult time keeping up with their responsibilities at home, then create a chore chart. The one in our house works like this. We list the kids' names across the top. Then, down the side, we list the chores, such as taking out the garbage, washing the dishes, cleaning their room and doing the laundry. After the kids complete a chore, they check it off. So stop nagging and try a chore chart...
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