Dear One,

The view from our home office is beautiful. A little strip of tall grass with pink and white wild flowers peeking through is a favorite of little baby bunnies and puppies. The little tree  (overgrown bush, really) outside our window is a great perch for the likes of cardinals, blue jays, robins, and all sorts of other birds. The rolling hills of Lynchburg also afford us a fantastic view of the mountains. What joy is ours to have such inspiration as we sit day after day creating blogs, articles, webinars, programs, letters, and eZine Newsletters for YOU. Yes, we think about you, work for you, and pray for you every day! Know that you and your family are very precious to us.

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Have you signed up yet? Brain Games is such a wonderful way to strategize your next steps in  the goals you have for your child. Having trouble creating goals? No worries. We can help with that. By the end of June you could have a firm plan of action for next steps to help your child solve the challenges they face. You could begin to work toward a peaceful solution and move forward with confidence. Very affordable pricing through this Monday - June 1st. Sign up now! We start June 1st. Go to:

www.MarchForthFamily.com/brain 

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Do You Cry in the Bathroom? Our newest Blog post below. From Julie's heart to yours.

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A Simple Tip to a Calmer Child

Will You Stop to Tell a Story?

There are so many things to get done in a day. Laundry, dishes, school/home work, meals, prepping, cooking, cleaning up, vacuuming, mopping, bed making, your job, etc. Most days there are not enough hours to get it all done in the way you would like.

In the midst of working on the list, your child comes to you and asks you to read them a book or tell them a story. You sigh. If you didn't have this crazy list, you would love nothing more than to sit for hours reading and telling stories.

Now that our children are grown, we are reminded of something often. These days of raising children are quick. In the blink of an eye, they have grown into adults.

And...you know something it is not the house being clean or the laundry being perfectly folded in dressers that they remember.

Their sweetest memories are filled with times with mom and dad reading stories and playing house and doing art projects with them.  We homeschooled our children and decided to make lunch time "read aloud" time. We picked a book that would be interesting to all the different age levels and Julie would read outloud while the children were eating lunch. Sometimes those lunch times spanned 30 minutes and sometimes they spanned two hours. With some books it was impossible to find a good stopping place -- so we just kept going. And...we have no regrets.

A child has a love cup to fill. There were days when there were piles of clean laundry sitting around and dirty dishes overloading the sink and a sticky floor waiting to be mopped. The children were at odds with one another and not settled in their spirit. Those were the times we had to ask ourselves, is now the time to take a break from the to do list and fill the children's cup? We had to decide to make time for them.

Taking a "story" break often resulted in a calmer kid and a more peaceful home.

There is a security that comes to a child when parents spend time with them. There is a message that this parent loves me and all is right with the world.

And there you have it, another Tip to a Calmer Kid today!

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Very excited to be attending the HEAV conference this year for the first time. Judging from the schedule, the Home Educators Association of Virginia is putting on an amazing event. Are you planning to attend? Let's meet up!!! Contact us at MarchForthFamily@gmail.com or text us at 410-746-9010. We so would love to meet you!

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Much love,

Tom and Julie

Do You Cry in the Bathroom?

Julie Meekins

Do you cry in the bathroom? I did. Still do sometimes.

I cried because this mama bear was exhausted. I cried because I was overwhelmed and didn't have a clue what next steps to take. I cried because my heart was breaking that my child had to endure what they were enduring at the time. I cried because, other than my husband, no one in the world truly understood the challenge before me.

Raising children is hard. You want the absolute best for each one -- the typically developing ones AND the ones who are not developing typically.

We see them struggle and it breaks our heart. We want them to know we empathize -- we care -- we get that sometimes their struggles suck. Totally. However, we also know that as their parent we cannot let them live in a pity party. We are responsible for lifting them up when they are slipping into the downward spiral. We are their biggest cheerleader until every last rah rah has been drained from our person and we need to be refueled ourselves.