If you’re an intentional person, chances are you’ve already started planning the perfect Christmas activities for your family—the ones that will help your children or grandchildren fall in love with baby Jesus, make good choices, and someday reflect back on your efforts with deep appreciation. But if you’re a procrastinator, you have plans to pull ...
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The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Review
If you have grown up in the church, the Christmas story may feel like second nature. You know the young virgin giving birth to the Savior in a stable, wrapping Him in swaddling clothes, and placing Him in a manger. You’ve sung the songs, and you can recite the Bible verses celebrating this incredible news. But have you ever thought about how ...
Let This Holiday Season Be Different
As we roll into the busy holiday season, now is the perfect time to be intentional with our families or students. This season offers countless opportunities to "impress" (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) the love of God and love for others on the hearts of our children or students. Whether through simple acts of kindness, fun traditions, or creating meaningful ...
Empowering Independence: A Guide to Letting Go {Transcript #64}
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Heidi Franz Host 00:00 There is a famous parenting quote that says, “Never do for a child what he can do for himself.” I think about a mom who carries a child's backpack to and from school, or a parent who makes the teenager's lunch every day. It's so easy because we deeply desire to love our kids, ...
Simple Steps to Starting a Family Bible Time
Let’s do some shocking math for a moment. If your family goes to church for three hours a week, that only accounts for 1.8% of your entire week. While those three hours in corporate worship are vital, we can't hold the church responsible for the spiritual growth of our children. We must bring God's Word into our homes. Family Bible time is one more ...
Simple Steps to Starting a Family Bible Time {Transcript #63}
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Melanie Simpson Co-host 00:00 Heidi, one of the most common questions that we get from parents is about how to start a family devotional in their homes, because it can be really intimidating. As with a lot of things, there are so many options. How do you pick the right thing and are you going ...
Does Your Home Have Structure? Here’s How to Tell
A listener to the Parenting to Impress podcast, raised an insightful question: “How do I know if my home has structure? Is there a right or wrong amount?” Structure seems abstract, but I believe there are a few hints to gauge your family's structure. And be sure to read until the end, where I offer guidance for parents who are providing structure ...
Does Your Family Have Structure? Here’s How to Tell {Transcript #62}
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Melanie Simpson Co-host 00:00 Heidi, one of our podcast listeners, wrote in and asked about structure. Jenna posed the question, “How do you know if a home has structure or not? I hear people say that family has structure. What does this mean and how do you know? Is this based on the rules of their ...
How Chores Can Help Reduce Child Anxiety
Growing up on a farm, work was a significant part of my life. Whether it was loading livestock into the trailer, preserving vegetables from the garden, or cutting thistles when the grass was waist-high, there was always something to be done. It took everyone working together to stay on top of it. However, I believe that working together has many ...
Teaching Kids Responsibility Through Chores {Transcript #14, #59}
This transcript has been lightly updated for clarity. Heidi Franz Host 00:00 Recently I was introduced to a new book called Kit and the Missing Notebook by Chris and Lindsay Wheeler. In the book they introduced the idea of teaching a child to cook to help with their anxiety. And in reading over the author's notes I realized cooking ...