It’s weird, but sometimes the people we love the most we hate the most. We don’t really hate them, but we sometimes have the strongest negative emotions that we have ever felt, toward them. At a moment of conflict, it feels like hate.
This is something we don’t want to admit. It sounds wrong, but really it’s [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Family’
March 8, 2010
I Love You; I Hate You!
February 19, 2010
Customized Love
Love is idiosyncratic.
We each experience love uniquely, filtering it through our personal backgrounds, personalities and experiences. In this domain, don’t bother with generics.
One person feels loved when they are given a gift that perfectly fits an interest they have. For them, that’s love. Another feels deeply loved by a snuggly hug, another by being close but not touching. Another feels most loved [...]
February 4, 2010
Fight Fair
“We had a fight last night.” Few families haven’t said that.
Most of us do verbal battle in our families, often at night when we are all home, and all tired. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A certain degree of conflict is normal, even healthy! Conflict is needed to set things right when they have gone wrong.
My wife has [...]
January 28, 2010
Different, But Still Family
One of the most obvious things about the people in your family is that some of them are quite different from you.
Take the issue of how we process time. We process it differently. Some are speedy thinkers, quick with a response, quick to want to suggest solutions, quick to want to make up after a fight. Others are [...]
January 21, 2010
The Values Outlast The Rules
Values rule, not rules.
Over a recent holiday my daughter and I hiked through some beautifully sculpted sand cliffs down to the beach at Torrey Pines State Park in San Diego. On the way down, we stopped and ate the lunch we brought. On a bluff overlooking long, curling waves we chatted away and luxuriated in the sun and sage bushes. On [...]
January 27, 2008
Catch Happiness
Happiness is hereditary. Your kids can get it from you.
Families want to be happy families. Sociologist, George Barna, reports that one of the greatest needs expressed by adults is the need for a happy family.
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with my brother Lars and his family. As we walked [...]
January 23, 2008
Creating Respectful Families
The 5th Commandment: Has It Been Forgotten?
Suddenly Laurel jumped up from the school lunch table. With her lipsticked, fashion-clad girlfriends watching, she ran down the corridor past the bathrooms, caught up with me, and threw her arms around me. “Daddy, I love you!” she gushed, eyes sparkling. The she punctuated her enthusiasm by landing an [...]
January 17, 2008
Money
Money 101
By Randy Hasper
What you are currently teaching your teens about money has everything to do with whether they will be in debt up to their eyeballs ten years from now. The teen years are the habit setting years – whether it’s snacking, studying or spending. These are the years when young buyers (and their [...]
