Familius

Happy Canadian Family Day

Today is the official Family Day in Canada, Australia, South Africa, Vietnam, Nevada, and Arizona. As the Australian celebration writes the purpose of this holiday is  "...to enable workers to take a break from their hectic working lives and to spend some quality time with their family. . . ."

What about the rest of the world? Do we not get a holiday to spend time with our families? The easy answer is yes, we do. Every day is family day. Every day you can take time to be with your family, even for a few minutes to talk, laugh, eat, appreciate, say I love you, tuck in bed, kiss, read to, work beside, do an errand . . . you don't need a holiday to spend time with your family. 

However, Familius thinks this Family Day is a good idea. What are your thoughts about petitioning our state and Federal governments to create a Family Day throughout the United States and other parts of the world? 

Family Day

This coming Monday is officially Family Day in Canada, but every day is "Family Day" at Familius, where every day we celebrate the family in its many shapes and sizes. Whether you're a family of two or a family of ten, whether the head of your household is Dad, Mom, Grandma, or some other family member, whether your kids are all grown and gone or not yet born, we have books to help you make your family the best that it possibly can be.

Whether your concerns are potty-training or facing an empty nest, keeping in touch with far-flung relatives or keeping dinners within budget, whatever aspect of family life you're dealing with, Familius has the books you need to help make family life easier, better, and more fun. We're here for you. Come join us in the book section or the gift section or the article section or the video section or in the Get Published section and share with us and our readers something you believe will help us all succeed. 

Are You In Hot Water?

Yesterday a friend referenced a quote: “The same hot water that softens a carrot will harden an egg.” I mentioned this to my family. My seventeen-year-old said, “That’s deep.” My sixteen-year-old said, “I don’t get it.” My eleven-year-old said, “I get it—hardboiled eggs!” My thirteen-year-old said, “Do you think that if you kept the carrot in hot water long enough it would harden?” And my nine-year-old said, “What about the egg? How can you get it soft again?”

Sometimes the point is lost in translation. As for family life, the hot water we experience softens our heart while hardening our resolve to succeed.

We’re all in hot water, whether we acknowledge it or not. The trick is to let that water work its chemistry so we can become better day by day. 

For more about persevering read Iron Mom by Mette Harrison.

Happy Valentine's Day

According to martyrology, Saint Valentine was imprisoned for performing marriage ceremonies for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for aiding Christians during the Roman Empire’s persecution of them.

Over the last thousand years, Valentine’s Day has gone from Christian persecution and soldier marriages to romantic love reference by Geoffrey Chaucer to romantic poetry to handwritten cards to confections to mass produced greeting cards.

The mass produced greeting card seems the most ridiculous of the lot—to have so little time or creativity to write our own love note that we pay 3.95 to have Hallmark do it for us.

Take a moment today and consider the three attributes you love most about your sweetheart. Write them down on a nice piece of paper, in your best handwriting, adding “Why I Love You” at the end. Add a rose or a single chocolate truffle (the box can come later). Put it on his or her pillow.

You’ll save $3.25 and you’ll be amazed at the result. 

Your Valentine's Gift

Today is Valentine’s Eve. If you haven’t done the obvious and planned for your sweetheart, then we recommend you hurry. Chocolates are never a mistake. Roses are appreciated. But the best Valentine’s gifts are those that last.

Over the last week in a countdown to Valentine’s Day, Familius has published on Facebook  a series of messages called The Stuff That True Love is Made Of. The list includes:

·        Service

·        Forgiveness

·        Trust

·        Kindness

·        Fidelity

·        Communication

Each of these is a daily gift we can provide to strengthen our relationship with our sweetheart and other loved ones. We invite you to share today’s and tomorrow’s final messages by liking them on our Facebook page and extending these attributes to your favorite Valentine.

My Brother My Friend

“A brother is a friend provided by nature.”

—Legouve Pere

A Rock that Stays Steady

“The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works is the family.”

—Lee Iacocca

Haircuts

Last week our nine-year-old daughter cut her hair. Her mother was understandably upset. We took our daughter to a local beautician and fixed it. Looks great. A few days ago, one of her twin sisters cut her hair. She gave herself bangs. Again, manageable. Yesterday, the other twin, the twin with hair to her waist--long, silky and beautiful hair, well, she cut her hair. This time not so manageable, but, perhaps, salvageable. We hid the scissors. Or so we thought. Today, the same twin found another pair of scissors and cut off one whole braid. It's total destruction. Not salvageable. I'm considering buzzing it and dressing her in boy clothes for a year. 

Why did she do it?

"I didn't want my hair so pretty." she said. 

OK. It's not so pretty anymore. Good job. 

Her mother is beside herself. She says it's the straw on the proverbial camel's back. 

What's the pater's opinion? That sometimes we can get so sick of what other people think are our best qualities that we'll do anything to escape them. 

But before you grab the scissors and take drastic action, get a second opinion. 

When Parents need Children

Last Saturday I sustained a concussion while skiing with one of my sons. I don’t remember going skiing or anything about that day. My memory is jumbled and foggy. My son says we were on our last run. I said to him that things like this always happen on the last run.

He was able to get me off the mountain and to the hospital by himself. He even tried to keep me awake by giving me a simple task—pick the next song on the IPhone. He says I failed. “One simple job I give you and you fail.” He’s seventeen years old.

As parents we raise our children, care for them, support them, provide for them, educate them, feed them, drive them. . .

Eventually, we need their help and it’s good that they are there to help us in our moment of need. Life comes full circle. Treat your family with respect and kindness. You never know when you’ll need to cash in those chips.

Children are Not Empty Vessels

"Children are not empty vessels to be filled or dry tinder in need of a spark; they are living beings whose well-being depends on learning as well as eating and breathing." 

--Joseph Parry, Director Undergraduate Honors Program, BYU