I want better relationships, don't you? And I don't just mean with my kids, I mean with everyone. I feel like I spend more time thinking, writing, and talking about improving the relationships I have than I actually spend changing the them. I need to remember that doing this might be easier than most of [...]
Author: Ryan North
Ryan North is the Co-Founder of One Big Happy Home and creator of The Empowered Parent Podcast. He is a recognized expert on childhood trauma, a TBRI Practitioner, and develops training materials for parents, schools, churches, and child-placing agencies. Ryan is a sought-after speaker known for his engaging and practical approach to communicating complex issues clearly and relatable to a wide range of audiences.
Labels Are For Things Not People
We all like to label things. If it doesn't have a label, then it doesn't make any sense to us. We even have label makers so that we can label our things. Apparently the names they were assigned by their makers donât really work for us. We have to give them names that fit our [...]
People Mean Well…No, Really They Do
I know people mean well, but good intentions are not necessarily an indicator of right actions. We've been asked some questions over the years that either leave us smiling or scratching our heads. These questions could be considered misguided or uninformed, perhaps the thoughts of people who donât know any better, but when strangers ask [...]
You Have to Stay Connected in the Chaos
We are usually a pretty busy family, but February 2014 stretched us in ways we hadn't experienced before. It almost did us in. In addition to all of the usual things we do (you know food, laundry, school, etc) we had to deal with games and rescheduled games, cancellations, and late starts because of snow, ice, and temperatures [...]
Do You Want to Connect With Your Kids? Try Apologizing to Them
The Bible says the children are a blessing from the Lord. Thatâs a big, scary statement and as their parents we have the responsibility to raise them well. Letâs look at parenting from 10,000 feet. There are essentially two very broad but different approaches to parenting: Do as I say Do as I do In [...]
Great and Other Expectations [Re-post]
One of the greatest sources of conflict for any of us is unmet expectations. So many of the low moments in my life are when people didn't behave the way I thought they should or hoped they would. At the same time there are an equal amount (if not more) of moments where others are [...]
Why a Strong Community is Important
com·mu·ni·ty /kÉËmyunÉȘti /  [kuh-myoo-ni-tee] noun - a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists (usually preceded by the): the business community; the community of scholars. We recently had the opportunity to share with a [...]
Fostering Hope. Fostering Connections
We are looking forward to speaking at this Saturday's Tapestry event. We will share some of our experiences as foster parents and some of the lessons we've learned along the way. Here is some more information taken from the Tapestry website.  Join us on Saturday, February 1, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, in Room West [...]
The Wounds You Don’t See [updated]
I recently read a study that highlighted the difference between our ability to recall images versus words. There were two control groups. The first was shown a picture of a circle. The word âcircleâ was written down for the second group. The groups were re-convened 72 hours later and asked what they were shown. The [...]
5 Things my Kids Taught me in 2013
Every day is a new adventure and there certainly is much truth to that especially when you have six little adventures living in your home. But days are more than just adventures for us parents, they are educational as well and since we just closed the books on 2013 I thought Iâd share what I [...]