one word that could change your family life...

The one word that could change your family life is NO. I'm not talking about saying NO more to your kids, we do that all the time! I am talking about all the other people out there that keep demanding more and more time, attention, and money from your family. This past week we had a NO moment at home. Kozbi's school planned a choir Christmas event and we had gymnastics and basketball practice planned for the girls. We told the school NO and made sure the girls honored their commitments. We could say NO to the school event because as a family we are focusing on basketball and gymnastics and we are very determined to not be the family that does "everything". I think so often families are so scared they are going to miss something that they destroy family life at home to make everyone else happy...make the school happy, the church happy, the coach happy while at the same time robbing our kids of time together. If we never choose to say NO when will we have time to play a board game, shoot basketball, bake a cake, watch a movie, or take a trip together as a family. As a family if you want to say NO more often...

• Decide what is most important // as a family choose what matters most and use that standard as a guide to saying NO.
• It's ok to have NOTHING TO DO when you choose to LEVERAGE TIME with your kids // saying NO is not a excuse for you as a parent to play golf or scrapbook more. It's ok to have nothing on the calendar as long as you build in quality and quantity time with your kids. They need to know we want to spend time with them.
• Saying NO will bring both BALANCE and CONFLICT // just know up front that saying NO will not always be easy for your kids or people around you. Balance comes with a price but in the long run it is worth it!
• Saying NO helps show kids how to manage the demands of life // we have to model wise time management for our kids. Saying NO helps kids understand how to balance the demands of life.
• Our goal is to have a healthy family and marriage NOT please everyone // why make everyone else around you happy at the expense of your relationship with your kids and spouse. Don't trade away your family life for people pleasing.