This is a repost from 2017: This is an intriguing book helping parents know what societal changes are going on in their son's lives--Boys Adrift:The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men" by Leonard Sax, MD., PhD. My friend recommended three of Leonard Sax' books, the other two being … Continue reading Understanding The Shift In Our Culture Against Boys
Peaceful Parenting
Movies Can Build character
One of my favorite things to do when my children were little happened because VHS tape were invented. In my childhood, we had to wait a whole year for "The Wizard of Oz", or "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown". There was no owning movies!!! In the 1960’s we had to wait and wait and wait. In … Continue reading Movies Can Build character
Academically, Character Matters
Teaching character to our children is a worthy goal, but what about their grades, getting into good schools and getting a quality job? How can we teach them to be honest about their homework and other school projects? The number of inquiries to a ‘homework help’ website grew by 197 % from 2019-2020. Another newspaper … Continue reading Academically, Character Matters
The Book of Mormon Teaches Character
In the Book of Mormon we read how 2060 stripling [young like a new stripling tree] warriors were strengthened spiritually and emotionally for years on the inside of themselves, before they went into physical battle: "They were exceedingly valiant for courage and also for strength and activity but behold this is not all, they were … Continue reading The Book of Mormon Teaches Character
Character–What Is it?
You have agreed to make a trip in a boat. It would be a three or four hour trip across the harbor for a generous fee in order to deliver something. You have never sailed but the boat seems seaworthy, you like the water and so you push off from the shore. What seemed like … Continue reading Character–What Is it?
Understanding the Importance of Feedback
My mother’s love language was praise. That was a wonderful gift as a child but that also meant that negative language in any way was hard for me to hear. I was so primed to hear praise that when I didn’t hear it I was deeply affected. I distinctly remember right after we got married, … Continue reading Understanding the Importance of Feedback
Four Ways to Nurture A Relationship
In a recent post I wrote about criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling that kills relationships. In contrast the following four principles invite trust and two way communication: Keeping Our Commitments: Steven R. Covey says that when you want to build your own character, the very first thing you do is to make a commitment and … Continue reading Four Ways to Nurture A Relationship
Being Honest About Our Own Behavior
The following story was told by C. Terry Warner, a professor emeritus of psychology at Brigham Young University. This is one of my favorite talks given at a BYU devotional, ever. It is called Honest, Simple, Solid, True. In his speech he talks about a larger shift, a foundational transformation as this woman wrote to … Continue reading Being Honest About Our Own Behavior
The Collapse of Parenting
This is a repost from Feb. 2020: This week we were getting on a chair lift to ski and the young skier in front of us brushed by the attendant who was checking everyone's ski passes with an electronic gun. The attendant yelled something at him like, "If you do that again---" and I didn't … Continue reading The Collapse of Parenting
Long And Short Suffering
This is a repost from 2017. I have had this scripture below posted in my office for over a year. The two reasons it speaks to me is the actual idea of fruits of the Spirit and a powerful list of Christ's attributes I want to develop in myself. The other reason is my puzzlement … Continue reading Long And Short Suffering
"Peace Like A River…" 