Eyres on the Road

What is the single quality that all naturally good parents seem to have? On today's show, the Eyres claim that that key, essential quality is an attitude of serendipity! Serendipity, as defined by the man who coined the word, Horace Walpole, is "a state of mind whereby one, through awareness and sensitivity, frequently finds something better than that which he was seeking." The implication is that...

Too often we think life will be better when....or wasn't it great back then...or if only we lived somewhere else. Today on the show, the Eyres talk about gratitude and appreciation and teaching our kids to appreciate the now and to love where they live. Back in the 90s when Richard was running for Governor, he and Linda wrote a book called Utah in the Year 2000 which was about making Utah a great...

On today's show, the Eyres talk about some of the old sayings or cliches that just don't work very well for families today. In our busy world, we need to turn it around and say "Don't Just Do Something, Sit there!" And instead of "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing well" we need to say "If a thing is just barely worth doing, just barely do it." We need to relax. Instead of saying "Hurry u...

Today, the Eyres talk about the three things that every lasting institution has: A set of rules or laws (a legal system), a way of sharing responsibility (an economy), and repeating rituals that hold people together (lasting traditions). If we want our families to be lasting institutions, we must have these same three things -- a family legal system, a family economy, and a set of powerful family...

On Today's show, Richard and Linda tell the inside story of their book Teaching Your Children Values which became the first family and parenting book in 50 years to reach #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. It is an exciting story involving Oprah, the Today Show, and two of the largest publishers in the world. More importantly, the Eyres discuss why it is so important to deliberately and sys...

When we think we own things, it is the beginning of pride.  Ownership is essentially a lie, because God owns all, and we are the recipients of His gifts. When our paradigm is ownership, we inevitably compare what we have with what others have, and the results are envy, coveting, condescension, and a whole host of other win-lose mentalities and emotions. A much more true paradigm, and by far a more...

We would all like to have more control over our time, our kids, our relationships, our schedules, but life happens, and so often things come up that throw us off of our plan and get in the way of our "lists." On today's show, Richard and Linda introduce us to their favorite word--Serendipity--and explain that the word can become a mind-set that makes us more spontaneous, more fun, and more relaxed...

On today's show, the Eyres tell us about an effort to locate the most positive and family-helpful social media and Internet sites. As parents and as marriage partners, we worry about the negative effects that our small screens can have on our kids--and on us! We know there are some good, family-strengthening websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, blogs, and social media, but how do we find them and n...

We all plan to be good parents, even perfect parents, who always keep our cool and always know what to do. But in reality, we are often discouraged, frustrated, and at a loss. And the problem is that we are comparing our difficult reality with the perfect-looking unreality of other families on Social Media or sitting calmly in Church while we are trying to keep our incorrigible kids quiet. On toda...

On this week's show, the Eyres suggest that the 2020 New Year can be symbolic of the clear vision we want to have of our families and of the relationships that mean most to us. Goals and resolutions for the coming year can include the specific things we want to teach our children during the 12 months ahead. Linda and Richard believe that the goal with preschoolers should be to teach them how to be...

This Christmas week, parents will want to do all they can to help children feel the gift of giving along with the gift of getting. By making this a conscious goal, parents can set aside a time when all the focus is on children giving their gifts and being praised for their sensitivity and generosity. Their book Teaching Children Charity, which the Eyres talked about two weeks ago, is a highly reli...

Most parents know the value as well as the joy of reading stories to their children, but we often can't seem to find the time. Christmas is the season to find the time! And there are a wealth of fabulous Christmas stories for all ages. The beauty of Christmas story books is that most of them teach a principle and can expand a child's understanding of giving, of receiving with gratitude, of helping...

Since we as adults have such a hard time with charity, we sometimes assume that it is too big a principle for children to learn. But as it turns out, kids can sometimes be better at empathy, sensitivity and charity than we are! The Eyres broadcast today's show from Gilbert, AZ. where they are joined by their daughter Shawni Pothier of the popular blog 71toes.com and they discuss how the Christmas...

So much of succeeding in life is about balance. Balancing work with family, balancing structure with spontaneity, balancing relationships with achievements. And no one needs to face the challenges of balance more than busy parents who have to think about the needs of their children, of their spouse, of their work, of their bodies, of their church, of their community, often of their ageing parents,...

Parents can learn from the "best practices" of other families and can establish family systems that make the household run better and more efficiently and that give children a sense of security and consistency. On today's show, the Eyres talk about setting up a "family infrastructure" of family laws, family responsibilities, and family rituals and traditions that, like any infrastructure, take a w...

On today's show, Richard and Linda discuss the gift of agency and the process through which agency can be exercised and developed into freedom. Ever since the War in Heaven, there has been an ongoing battle between false freedom and true freedom. Freedom from responsibility and difficulties and challenges is the false freedom that Satan proposed in that premarital conflict, which opposed the agenc...

Today the Eyres talk about the ups and downs, the highs and lows of motherhood. Richard essentially interviews Linda about her book Joyful Mother of Children. There have been three bestselling editions of this classic motherhood book, the first of which was written when Linda and Richard's children were preschoolers and elementary-schoolers, and the last edition when they were teens and college st...

No matter how many good parenting methods and techniques and ideas we have, sometimes the most valuable thing we can have is PERSPECTIVE! If we can learn to think of our children as our equals, as our brothers and sisters as well as our children, as offspring of the same Heavenly Father as we, it will give us a sense of stewardship and respect that will make us better parents in every regard. This...

This week the Eyres discuss how important Sundays can be in keeping families on track and in helping children learn to set goals and communicate better with siblings and parents. Thinking of the Sabbath not only as a day of rest but as a day of renewal and re-creation can give families a fresh start each week and allow parents and children to "spiritually create" the week ahead before it happens....

This week the Eyres discuss the universal challenge of helping children grow into responsible adults. Many studies show that the single biggest concern of parents worldwide is "Raising Responsible Kids in an Irresponsible World" and Richard and Linda break down the subject into twelve different kinds of responsibility--one each month of the year for parents to focus on.

This week the Eyres talk about how essential it is to give our children a strong identity as part of a lasting family.  Studies show that kids who know "where they came from" in terms of their ancestors and their stories are more resilient and secure than kids who don't. Richard and Linda focus in on the tenth book they ever wrote, a novel called The Awakening, which is about an amnesiac and his s...

This week the Eyres discuss the principles of a book they wrote many years ago which is directed at fathers and husbands and which attempts to give men four key concepts or words that can be programmed into their minds to form their attitudes and approaches as husbands ("Partner," "Protect," "Patriarch," and "Priority"); and four other principles or word-pegs that can form their approaches to fath...

This week the Eyres discuss their seventh book, called Lifeplanning and candidly admit that they are not happy with everything they wrote in that book. They worry that it suggests that we have more control of our lives than we really do, and wish that they had written more about how important it is to be flexible and to adjust our goals and plans as unexpected opportunities or problems enter our l...

This week the Eyres talk about the goods and evils of the internet and suggest ways that parents and marriage partners can use and consume social media sources that strengthen families. They also announce the Annual Family. Is Internet Awards which will recognize and award family-friendly content on blogs, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Podcasts and websites. Content will be judged on how well it C...

A preschooler's absorbent mind can learn just about anything, so the question is, what to teach them. Many parents opt for early academics, but studies show that this may make them bored when they start school, and that other kids will catch up by age 7 or 8. A better option is to let kids have a real childhood, free from the school pressure that will come soon enough. The thing to focus on with p...