You might have participated in team building exercises at work, but what about doing some team building at home? This weekend I had my kids do a fun project together and they loved it! I told the kids that they just inherited an island and they were the new government. Here are the tasks they had to complete:
1 Name the island
2 Design a license plate
3 Design a flag
4 Choose a national bird, and flower
5 Write a national anthem
6 Appoint one another to government offices
7 Create laws
The rules were these:
1 You must ALL participate, and no one may be excluded.
The kids had a great time coming up with jobs and tasks, and they really loved the creativity aspect. They all participated without “taking over” for one another, and allowed input from all members.
Ethan wrote and sang the national anthem. Carrie drew and colored a license plate, Mattie and Harry took senior roles and helped to manage the tasks. They all created the laws together, and even drew a schematic of the island and plan to create a 3 dimensional model. It was a lot of fun and Thad and I enjoyed watching them all work together. We were quite surprised that they created very traditional type laws, as we were expecting “Ice cream for dinner” laws, or perhaps “A pony for every household.”
If you are struggling with children that don’t get along with one another, this might be one exercise that can help create bonds. Encouraging group activity and team building can have a big impact on siblings. Just remember to never use “time together” as a punishment. For example, never make one child play with another as punishment, it shows the child that their sibling is nothing more than a consequence of bad behavior and is sure to make them resentful of one another. Try some fun team/sibling/family building activities and Live Inspired Now!
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
Guess what I realized yesterday? Most people have no clue what they want or what goal they are working towards. I find that this is especially true for families. Most families do not have a family “mission statement,” which can lead to conflict when the time comes to make big family decisions.
Here is an example of my personal family mission statement:
“The mission of our family is to create a nurturing place of ORDER, TRUTH, LOVE, HAPPINESS, and RELAXATION, and to provide opportunities, and support for EACH CHILD to become responsible, independent, caring, generous, compassionate adults. To LOVE one another and to HELP and BELIEVE in each other and to use our resources wisely to BLESS others. The needs of the collective family are always first above the individual, but individual needs are important and will be addressed.“
Thad and I created this mission for our family years ago when we first got married. We wanted the kids to understand what we, as a newly formed family, were all about. It wasn’t just “Thad and Heather are getting married and let’s just see how it all goes.” Instead, it was about joining our families, and raising responsible and happy kids that will confidently go into the world and thrive. The kids will determine their own goals and purposes, but we will ensure that they have the best possible tools for success. We do this by teaching them self esteem, confidence, independence, responsibility, and self advocacy.
We are far from perfect, but it helps everyone in the family to understand what we are all working towards. The kids know that it is our goal to help them become independent, and our greatest wish for them is happiness. Today, try creating a mission statement for your family. Create a statement that really speaks to the specific needs and goals of your family, get everyone involved, display your mission statement prominently, and Live Inspired Now!
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
This is a picture of the dry erase board in my kitchen. Each day I write something inspirational or motivational for the kids to start their day with. The kids love it, but it also gives me an opportunity to come up with something really positive too. It really creates a nice positive way to start my day and it sets a nice tone for the rest of the family as well. It’s hard to feel down in the dumps, or gloomy when you start your day looking for something positive to share with the people you love!
So consider mounting a dry erase board in your kitchen and start your days off in a positive way! Incidentally, today’s message about boredom is absolutely true! And with a dry erase board, if your kids get “bored,” then allow them to go find inspirational quotes for you to post in the future! My favorite website for quotes is: www.quotegarden.com. I like to write my own quotes like today’s about boredom, but if I am in a hurry, Quote Garden is an awesome resource!
Start your day off on a positive note, see how it changes your morning moods and Live Inspired Now!
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
If you have read my book, you know how many times I have been married. Yet, I still very much believe in the sanctity of marriage. With that said, I ALSO believe in marriage education! There is currently no school curriculum that teaches children how to enter into and maintain healthy relationships. If these relationships are not modeled for them at home, how will they learn?
With today’s divorce rate being so high, and single parent households being so common, kids are rarely subjected to healthy and happy marriages or partnerships. I don’t define marriage, I only encourage it to be healthy. Your family definition is your business, but teaching you to be healthy and happy is mine!
Not all marriages are meant to last, and how could they be? Too many people get so caught up in the excitement of the wedding, the drama, the attention, the fun that they forget the excitement will eventually come to an end. Once that happens, if they don’t know how to communicate with their partner, the relationship will suffer. When the music stops, we need to know how to appreciate the silence. Love ebbs and flows, and we need to teach our young people how to weather the storm. Not only that, but we need to teach young people HOW to choose the right person for them. Young people NEED to know: the difference between love and infatuation, how to put one another first above all else, and to be completely vulnerable and honest with one another. Until we teach young people relationship skills, we will continue to have people getting divorced in record numbers.
During one of my recent speaking engagements, a woman, in her 50’s, approached me after my talk. She stated that she was unhappily married to her second husband, and that she often took comfort in the fact that he was 20 years older than her, which meant that he may “die much sooner than me.” She then went on to say “Oh, I know that is awful, but I often think about it.” Here is what I said to her in response: “It isn’t awful to say that, it’s human. But do you want to be the type of human that wishes death for your spouse just so you don’t have to take action? You have the opportunity every day to make changes!” I also mentioned that she wasn’t really doing him any great favors by staying with him and that he might be happier to be alone than to be with a wife who dreams of his death.
This is not uncommon folks. I hear these types of things ALL THE TIME! What I don’t hear a lot of though, is people taking personal responsibility for their own lives, choices, behaviors, and relationships. How much are you really doing to make your relationship work? Have you really considered your potential spouse in the long term? Have you read any books or taken any workshops about healthy relationships? Have you learned how to communicate effectively? And most of all, what steps are you taking to ensure your kids learn these skills?
Learn how to choose the right partner. Learn how to communicate in a manner that gets your point across without hurting your significant other. Learn some simple tools that will teach you how to have a successful relationship. Then, model that behavior for your children. Learn how to create lasting love, and Live Inspired Now!
PS: Please reach out to me today if you need help with your current relationship, or if you would like me to teach you how to pick a better partner going forward. I can give you the tools to make your relationships happy and healthy with the best possible chance of success! I look forward to helping you find true, lasting love! I can also teach you how to teach your children to have healthy relationships despite your current circumstances!
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
Dear Young Ladies,
Do you know what it means to “jump the gun”? This saying refers to a runner who starts the race before the starting gun fires. The runner is then dis-qualified and kicked out of the race for starting too early.
Would you take an opportunity to “jump the gun?”
What if someone offered you Christmas early? Would you take it? Say I could offer you Christmas today, months and months before anyone else. You would get great presents, yummy food, special attention, but you would be the only one. Then, when Christmas comes around for real, you would get nothing, and would not be able to participate. You would have to watch as others enjoyed the holiday together, without you. Would you take that if it were offered to you?
Ladies, we are often temped to engage in things too early. In fact, many of you will contemplate “jumping the gun” in your relationships. Many girls do this because it feels good to be “wanted” or “needed.” However, the truth is, that when you get too involved when you are too young, you risk jumping the gun on something that would be far more special if you waited to share it.
Having intimate relationships when you are in your early teens might get you attention now, but you will lose out in the long run. The attention you get now from a 13 year old boy will NEVER compare to that of a loving, committed man when you are older. Please don’t trade tomorrow’s happiness for today’s comfort.
You do NOT need a boyfriend to prove that you are worthy. You do NOT need someone to like you in order to like yourself. You do NOT need “likes” on your facebook selfie to prove you are pretty. You do NOT need to show your body to get attention. You are loving, caring, worthy, beautiful, smart, talented, funny, and impressive young ladies and you deserve the best… just because you are YOU! No matter what grades you get, no matter how many friends you have, no matter how many tweets get shared, no matter where you live, no matter what you look like, no matter your size… no matter what…. YOU MATTER!
So my dear young ladies, your time will come; don’t jump the gun. It is absolutely OK to like boys, to talk about boys, and to have age appropriate relationships. But avoid getting into sexual or intimate relationships too early. Wait and be excited about what’s to come when you get older, enjoy the milestones of your youth, make lasting friendships and Live Inspired Now.
PS: If you need help, please message me today! You can find me on facebook as Inspired Heather Paris, or you can email me at: heather@liveinspirednow.com. Even if you have “jumped the gun” in some area of your life, you can recreate your innocence. You are not broken, messed up, or damaged. Contact me for help and start thinking more highly of yourself… because YOU matter!
PPS: Parents, if you are concerned about your daughter, please reach out. I help young people learn self worth, self confidence, and self love. Don’t wait until it’s too late, get help now if your child is in crisis.
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
