Inspiration from this Episode 

“Happiness often helps to build our confidence that we are liked, and we are appreciated, or we are needed.” 

“When we succeed at something that pushes our skills just a little bit, we have a sense of happiness, a sense of accomplishment.”

“The momentary part of happiness by adding a bit of a challenge that we're pretty sure we can do, even if it needs a little support.”

063 | Us & Kids: Happy Hour at Home

Intro 

On today’s show, we’re going to talk about happy hour. Now you might think “Happy hour? I have to leave the house for that and I haven’t done that in months!”. My question is could there be a happy hour at your house? How's the happy hour at your house? Or, is there no happy hour? How about a happy minute? Or is it just to make it through the day?

But, the question becomes, what is happy? We know that usually it is listed as an emotion....

Inspiration from this Episode 

“Look at your shelf with them to see what you can do to clean it up and to make it so there’s room to function.”

“The walls for us are really our framework or boundaries and there are times when those boundaries are sticky.”

“The emotions and thoughts you need can get stuck on somebody else’s attitude or your own attitude.”

062 | Us & Kids: What’s in Your Refrigerator?

Intro  

On today’s show, we’re going to talk about something that all of us have - our refrigerators. Ever think that it's time to clean your refrigerator? Every now and then, we might realize that our refrigerator has gathered a whole lot of crunchy dirt. 

And so as I think about refrigerators, I also realized that they have an awful lot in common with how we live our lives as a family and as a couple. So let's take a look inside your refrigerator and see what we find.

What...

Inspiration from this Episode

“Who do you walk shoulders with that is a step ahead of you that has some qualities you are looking to develop?”

“We can blend emotional energy with wise behavior.”

“We pause on the blame and the shame, both to ourselves and other people.”

061 | Us & Kids: Wisdom

Intro 

On today’s show, we are talking about something that each one of us at some point in our life or another thinks “That wasn’t the wisest thing I could have done.” So we are going to talk about wisdom. What are the qualities in it and how do we continue to grow it?

We will break down wisdom as an adult and how to develop wisdom in your kiddo. What aspects of wisdom do you think you have? Listen in to learn how to grow more of it yourself...and how to help instill wisdom in your kiddos too by grabbing the printable too!  

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode

• How to find people...

Inspiration from this Episode

“What amount of emotion is appropriate for this kind of place?”

“I’m going to make it so they can ease their way back to having some calm even though they are overtired.”

“Next time I’m scared of something I want to do, I can make a plan for carrying that forward.”

060 | Us & Kids: Salty Emotions

Intro 

On today’s show, we are talking about salt and emotions, and what does one have to do with the other? So let’s just think for a minute about salt. It’s been around for ever and ever, and so have emotions. It has a variety of uses, some are wonderful and some of them are rather icky - and that’s true for emotions as well.

There are a million uses for salt and some might say there are a million and one uses for emotions. And some of us would say there are a million and one emotions too yet. Salt and emotions - the perfect pair. Sprinkle these around your heart...

Inspiration from this Episode

“As babies they need to learn to trust us humans."

“We then build on the way to build healthy attachments with other people around us.”

“Give them a little more affirmation when they try things. Give them room to try it and achieve.”

059 | Us & Kids: ID and Personality Development

Intro 

On today’s show, we are talking about how to parent healthy children - emotionally healthy children. This is not so much about the food that we feed them, although we know what we feed them impacts their moods and behaviours. And, it’s not about your marriage relationship, although we know that the healthier the marriage in general, the healthier the kiddos. 

There are emotional stages that a child goes through - well into adulthood too, that we can impact and as we do, our kiddos develop the skills that impact their character development and the way their personality plays out.

What...

Inspiration from this Episode

“It is a grief no one is anticipating. In the pregnancy process, we are anticipating life, not death.”

“It is really impacted in some ways by what our hopes and dreams and our plans were.”

“If you need to, be your own advocate. If you need another opinion, get another opinion.”

058 | Us & Kids: Pregnancy and Loss

Intro  

On today’s show, we are talking about how to stay married forever and parent together even when you have experienced a miscarriage or early infant loss. It can be hard to keep a marriage together under such great emotional strain.

I interviewed Nancy Kingma, MA, LLP. She is an expert in my area who has worked in pregnancy loss and infant loss for over 40 years. We talk through the experiences no one ever wants to have happen so I asked a variety of questions and I will share today some of her responses.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode

• The...

Inspiration from this Episode

“All of these things take emotions - and our kids are learning how to do things - physically and emotionally by watching us.”

“So, to become more calm, more quickly, we might practice using courage in the face of fears.”

“Just like muscles, the more emotions you have working well within you, the stronger, more confident, gracious and loving you can be.”

057 | Us & Kids: Muscles and Emotions

Intro 

On today’s show, we are going to talk one more time about emotions - in comparison to our muscles. We’ve been talking a lot about emotions - and EQ - that emotional intelligence. You’ve probably noticed that we have a variety of muscles and rely on them everyday. 

We also want you to have a good variety of emotions that you use everyday. So, make a short list of the emotions that you experience each day for a week and see what you notice. Be sure to use the printable or the...

Inspiration from this Episode

“Marriage is not a set it and forget it kind of endeavour.”

“Our very first question is around the marriage mindset. What do you think about marriage? What do you hope will do for you? What do you expect to get out of marriage? Why are you marrying the other person?

“A lot of times people get married thinking they are going to fix or change the other person, and they are often sorely disappointed.”

056 | Us & Kids: EQ, Marriage and Kids

Intro 

On today’s show, we have my friend and fellow marriage professional Mark VanDellen, who is going to talk to us about the six things we need for getting our marriage started well and keeping it running smoothly.

Mark works a lot with pre-marriages and new marriages and helping them get off on the right foot. He shares with us the key indicators that he looks for and identifies when looking at the path for future marriages.

What You’ll Learn in...

Inspiration from this Episode

“It’s not having emotions that’s the problem, it’s how we manage those emotions.”

“Move away from those seven big emotions, and move towards something more specific.”

“As a spouse it is part of your duty to just sit and listen, but that comes with the territory. Just sit and listen to somebody share their emotion.”

055 | Us & Kids: EQ and You - How to Become More Emotionally Smart

Intro 

On today’s show, we have my good friend and fellow marriage professional Mark VanDellen joining us. He knows all about emotional intelligence and we are going to talk all about how to become more emotionally smart.

This impacts our marriages and parenting in such wonderful ways when we use it well. Join Mark and myself for a great interview, conversation about emotional intelligence and how it interacts with both our marriages and our kiddos.

What You’ll Learn in...

Inspiration from this Episode

“By saying you have nothing to say, you are saying a lot.” 

“What can you say? Other than being filled with just joy and awe.”

“In those moments, take a minute to just let your heart beam right out of your body and out of your face.”

054 | Us & Kids: Speechlessness - I Have Nothing to Say

Intro 

For today’s show, things felt a little different in the fact that I felt like I had nothing to say. But once I dove into the “I have nothing to say”, my brain dove into the feeling that I have all sorts of things to say.

Ever been speechless? Stunned...or shamed into silence? So tired you can not make a sentence? Or over thinking something without a clear thought or direction at all? What creates those moments? What should we do with them? How do we find words or expressions that actually free us up without creating another big fuss?

What You’ll Learn in Today’s...