Category Archives: Parenting & Family Life

“Give Me Tree Bark, Or Give Me Death.”: Liberty Yesterday and Today

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No speech has ever stirred the American people so much as Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death” speech. No matter if I see a professional orator perform it with eloquence, or a young child reciting that speech, it touches my heart with goodness and purpose. The United States of America was built upon these two feelings and Patrick Henry’s speech.

Henry’s cry for liberty started a world wide movement toward governmental freedom, spiritual freedom, and personal freedom.

Liber, Liberty, and Freedom

What is liberty? Years ago I attended a seminar called “The Liber” by a professor named Dr. Shannon Brookes. Dr. Brookes explained that before books and parchment, there was tree bark. Only a few people in each community could read or write the tree bark documents they had. At the time tree bark was the most logical, and simple method of communicating for business, politics, and religion with other communities of people. The word for tree bark is liber, and the people who were privileged enough to learn how to read it, write on it and speak what it said to the community were called “Liber” as well. Continue reading →

Keeping Teens Safe: The Internet Threat

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“Mrs. Peck, I am afraid I can’t believe in God.”

“What do you mean? How do you know?”

“I just don’t do things I should do and I do some things girls my age shouldn’t do…”

“What are you doing that you shouldn’t do?” I asked

“I just…spend my free time with two guys I don’t know…we just use facebook. That’s the place where we met…with one it’s just about conversation, but with the other…he just wanted me to show him my body and so on…you know…things that are done by a different type of people…Sometimes I just think it could be nice for both me and that guy.” Continue reading →

The Forgotten Prohibition on Divorce

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Marriage has been a moral and political subject for a very long time, while the practice goes back to ancient history. Discussions of who and how many can join together are found all over the place. The current hot topic asks the question if Mormon marriages are supposed to be equal or patriarchal authoritative. What hasn’t been talked about much is the equally growing number of marriage dissolution. Couples have been divorcing at greater numbers each year. This isn’t just the case outside the LDS Church, but within the Mormon community. Worse yet is an ever increasing rate of Temple Marriage sealings getting dissolved. The trend has become serious enough that LDS President made mention in the April 2011 General Conference of his concerns:

Now, brethren, I turn to another subject about which I feel impressed to address you. In the three years since I was sustained as President of the Church, I believe the saddest and most discouraging responsibility I have each week is the handling of cancellations of sealings. Each one was preceded by a joyous marriage in the house of the Lord, where a loving couple was beginning a new life together and looking forward to spending the rest of eternity with each other. And then months and years go by, and for one reason or another, love dies. It may be the result of financial problems, lack of communication, uncontrolled tempers, interference from in-laws, entanglement in sin. There are any number of reasons. In most cases divorce does not have to be the outcome.

The vast majority of requests for cancellations of sealings come from women who tried desperately to make a go of the marriage but who, in the final analysis, could not overcome the problems.

The high-profile re-marriage of Marie Osmond to her first husband Stephen Craig is a small reminder of how fragile relationships seem to be for modern couples. Her choice will be commented on a bit later. Hopefully, the second time around will last for the Eternal promise made in the LDS Temple vows. Why it didn’t work out the first time is a personal issue, but the failure is far from typical for too many. This situation is particularly relevant in the context of dating over 50, where individuals often have a history of past relationships and are looking for new beginnings. Multiple divorces and marriages are no longer associated mostly with the rich and high-profile entertainers. The opinion of the Lord on this matter is not hard to find even if forgotten by the Saints. He would not be pleased.
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Yes or No? ~Parent Choices

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Is it easier to tell children yes or no when they ask a question?

The answer to this question could depend on what kind of person you are.

Are the kind of parent who really likes to be in control of the goings on in the family and don’t like to be bothered with plans changing, outfits changing, or extra work for a new idea? If you are this kind of person you probably find it is easier to tell the children no when they ask to go play at a friends, finger paint, make cookies, or go swimming.

The Opposite

If you are the kind of parent who feels like it is easier to get the children out from ‘under foot’ by just letting them do what they want in order to offer you more alone time, then you might find it easier to say yes when the children ask you questions like the ones above. You may also feel like it is easier to let them do what they want so that you are not bothered with lots of whining or parenting problems.

What Do The Children Do? Continue reading →

Family Night Ideas: Our Top Ten Affordable Activities

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Family activity nights are big deals at our house! Not that we spend a lot of money or anything, but we do keep them a big priority. We know that having regular family activities keeps our family relationships fresh. The night gives us something to talk about and look forward to.

Here are is a list of our top ten activities which don’t really cost anything:

1- “Knock Your Socks Off”
Years ago I read an article in a magazine called Family Fun about this great game. This is how you play it. You need at least three players and a blanket.

Lay a large blanket on the carpet or grass and gather round in your stocking feet. Everyone must be wearing two, and only two, socks. My children run for their longest ones when we are going to play this game. You will see why.

The first two people are the players and the third person is the referee. The two players face each other and then the referee says, “Go.”

How to win. The idea of the game is to remove the other person’s socks while keeping your own socks safe. The person with a sock on at the end is the winner.

The match ends as soon as someone is sock-less.

You get out if you hurt another person or go off the blanket. The referee declares the winner and watches the blanket boundaries.

It is absolutely essential to explain the no one can get hurt rule to the group. This keeps the game silly and safe.

Here is a video of how the game goes: watch?v=GBwCq0rP-Vs

2- Four Square
This old playground game is one of our favorites. There is nothing old about it when we play. We reinvent the rules each round. Continue reading →