November 04, 2022
top trending topics
🍼 New mamas! You should know this about your husband after having baby.
🤔 We’re realizing our common interests don’t exist after kids…What should we do?!
❤️ Being a parent totally makes life better. Here’s why.
😀 Guide your adult child and give yourself peace of mind about their decisions.
🙈 So, you just found out your teen is having sex. Don’t panic, handle the situation with ease.
tips & tricks for growth
you can protect your family’s mental health
For starters, it’s important to continually remind ourselves that when we’re going through something that’s very unusual, we remain in a heightened state of anxiety and stress that impacts our mental and physical health.
📆 One thing that can help you regain your footing is to establish routines, rituals, and structure. In times of high anxiety and stress, the consistency of routines and structure are soothing to everyone.
💛 Make your home a peaceful place—a refuge from all the craziness going on in the world. Spend some time thinking about things you can do to create calm. Play calming music, light a lavender candle and let the sunlight in. Encourage your children to find a comfy spot where they can read or play with their toys.
✨ Be self-aware. Your children are like sponges. Whether you notice it or not, they’re watching your every move, your facial expressions and even listening to your conversations that don’t include them. They’re quick to pick up and take on your stress and anxiety. Have adult conversations out of the hearing range of your children. Be proactive in dealing with your emotions.
When parents model and lead out using these strategies, it teaches children how to navigate through hard times in healthy ways. It shows you believe they have what it takes to keep going even when things get really challenging. This builds self-confidence and helps them learn how to think and be creative in the midst of change.
you can find ways to divide those household chores fairly
Dishes, laundry, yardwork, cleaning, cooking… oh my! The chore list is long, and the questions are many. Who does what? How do we make this fair? Am I doing too much? Why doesn’t my spouse do more?
A big part of marriage is managing and maintaining a house and all the responsibilities a home can bring. So, where do we begin?
Here are some scenarios to think through as you talk about how to divide household chores fairly:
- You both are working full-time and focused on establishing your careers.
- You are expecting a child or have a child or children. (The seasons of childhood bring so many challenges.)
- One of you works from home.
- One of you is thinking about a career change.
There may be a season where one of you carries more household chores due to other circumstances. No matter what, you need to agree about what works for your family.
Addressing household chores isn’t a one-time conversation either. It needs to happen often. Different seasons of life bring different responsibilities.
let’s get REALatable
It’s time to take things a step further & get a little intimate with a Q&A. What do you say?😉 Learn a little bit about the faces behind all of this relationship gold. This week we’re chatting with Reggie Madison, a husband, dad of 7 (Yes, you read that right, he and his wife are wayyy outnumbered!), and the VP of Community Relations here at First Things First. Let’s get REALatable💛 & learn a little bit about him:
Q: Would you rather always have to watch the same movie or listen to the same song?
A: 🎶 Same Song – Songs do something for my mood, attitude and energy. Listening to the same song can help me have the right energy always. However, I can easily make the case for always watching the same movie, but I won’t. Listen to the same song is my final answer.
Q: One thing you want to learn?
A: 🌊 Scuba Diving – I actually tried once but I couldn’t handle the deep waters.
Q: First concert?
A: 🎤 First Concert – New Edition/Al B. Sure/Bobby Brown Concert in 1989. At 11 years old, my cousins took me to the UTC Arena for a night of some of the best R&B performers of the 80s.
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