The Families of Character Show

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! New Year - New Goals! But FIRST… join me in a GUIDED REFLECTION of 2022. In this episode, I review 6 specific categories to reflect on. Spirituality, Relationships (Family), Friendships, Health, Finances and Career. By going through an exercise like this, you will accomplish 2 things.  You will be able to avoid doing things that didn’t work or d...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Can you imagine your kids pitching in around the house, helping their siblings with their morning routine or coming up with an idea to help your elderly neighbor on a regular basis WITHOUT complaining? WITHOUT feeling like they needed to be paid or compensated in some way? Can you actually imagine them doing these things OUT OF LOVE…with a JOYFU...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! We all know kids are spending too much time on screens. Instead of the cloud of shame hanging over you, learn how to take some screen free breaks and introduce some reasonable and practical home based alternatives for your kids.  In this episode, you’ll learn the 3 primary effects on kids from too much screen time and what alternatives to offer...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Everyone has big emotions that bubble up from time to time and most of us aren’t even aware of how we automatically cope with them. Want to know what your go-to distraction actions are? In this episode, our guests share their professional expertise on managing big emotions and discuss how to replace unhealthy coping behaviors or “distraction act...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! I know what it’s like to be managing a house, 3 kids, a job, my relationship with my spouse, friendships, volunteering…ALL THE THINGS…  WITHOUT a clear, identified direction…and it’s a recipe for complete burnout. This is how marriages end, kids end up feeling isolated and disconnected from their parents & each other, and people have nervous...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Don’t let the holiday season stress you out when it comes to family gatherings. This episode gives you a new perspective on handling difficult conversations so you can avoid getting tangled up in an argument or fight. Consider a new way of approaching the former “dreaded” get-togethers! We’ve got you covered! Bonus content: 5 Self Care Tips that...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! If you’re feeling overwhelmed and are looking for a long lasting solution…we’ve got you covered in this episode! Andy Hickman, the founder of Art of Workflow, helps us understand the art behind managing overwhelm (the racing thoughts, the running list of to-do’s, the future goals that float around our minds and end up weighing us down).  Andy sh...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! The phrase “Do as I Say, Not as I Do” is ineffective. And even if we don’t actually say those words…we might be unintentionally parenting with this type of mindset. In this episode, you’ll be challenged to consider 5 areas of your life where you could use some fine tuning - making your actions match your words. I give an example of how our famil...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! How often are we yelling “Because I Told You So!” It’s a quick reply that tells our kids to do whatever we just commanded them to do, without question - right?! Take a listen to this episode to find out what impact that has on a child and how to avoid that phrase in the future.  This interview with Tim Zittle, DC who is a chiropractic and wellne...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! All of us deal with temptation on a daily basis. Working extra hours at the office and hoping to make it up to our family later or kids being tempted to sneak screen time or cheat on their school work to make an A….temptation lurks around every corner. This episode outlines a 5-Step Formula for managing temptations (how to recognize right from w...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! This episode explores the lies we believe, as parents, about asking for help. Mothers are having nervous breakdowns, fathers are hiding in the shadows of addictions, people are suffering because of the stigma around asking for help. Take a listen and identify which areas of your life you could step out and ask for help (personally, with your spo...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Forgiving people who have hurt you can be really hard.  We put pressure on ourselves to ‘just let go” and “get over it”. What you might be missing is actually a Practical Exercise in Forgiveness! Putting pen to paper, with some guided prompts can help you through the process.  In this episode, you’ll learn what forgiveness is, how to take a pers...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Every parent dreads the day their kid drops a bomb on them and they didn’t see it coming. Teen pregnancy, thoughts of self harm, gender confusion. How can you foster a relationship with your child so they will open up and share things with you, on the regular?  In this episode, I cover 3 steps for asking great questions to get your child to shar...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Failure to Launch Syndrome isn't actually a syndrome, but every parent has a degree of fear that their kid will "fail to launch". The trouble is, no one is talking about how to prevent it!  In this episode, Steve Markel - Founder of Families of Character, shares how he launched from the nest in his teens, ready to take on the worl...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! What’s bothering parents most? We recently partnered with a research firm to find out. The results: Parents are worried most that they are “LOSING THEIR KIDS TO SCREENS”.  In other words, screens are the new “SUBSTITUTE FAMILY”.   In this episode, I unpack this research - Kids are turning more toward their peers for moral guidance… than us, thei...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! If you’re frustrated with the evening routine at your house…required homework, 20-30 minutes of nightly reading, dinner time, after school activities and trying to get kids to bed on time…THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU! And…you’re not alone. This has been a HUGE topic of conversation among parents of school aged kids in our private Facebook group, the...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Short on time, but worried you're losing your connection with your spouse and kids to screens, social media or just not enough intentional time together?  A sense of true belonging inside a family, makes a HUGE difference! This episode not only highlights the risks of continuing to blow through life without intentional connection, it also p...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Want to know what snacks a dietician keeps in her pantry for her own kids? Tracy Mann, Registered Dietician shares her nutrition and health advice for busy parents who are on the go!  This episode is packed with practical tips for families who need to hit the drive thru a few times a week. Bonus content about how to communicate to your kids abou...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! * Want to know WHAT TRULY MATTERS when raising kids? * Leonard Sax, globally recognized Family Physician and Psychologist, shares what we should do, as parents, in the 21st-century to raise happy, healthy, and successful kids. This episode includes all his latest research about the following HOT topics: What's WRONG with today's parent...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! One of the most common complaints I hear from parents is that their kids are “ungrateful”. They say things like “he just doesn’t appreciate anything” and “she never says Thank You”.  No one likes to be around a “Debbie Downer” or an ungrateful child or friend. What is it that keeps us from recognizing something as GOOD and giving proper thanks f...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! If you’re feeling overwhelmed every morning, trying to get yourself and the kids out the door on time…you’re not alone! Most people would rate their mornings 2 to 3 stars, at most!  In this episode, I talk about how to score a 5 Star Rating when it comes to your morning routine. Implementing a few small changes in your own routine and then helpi...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! One of the primary problems in families is communication breakdown. Oftentimes, on big issues like the insanely busy family calendar, only 1 parent is in the “know”, holding all responsibility about who is going where, when! Even if people have their own individual personal growth goals, the family doesn’t grow together and become more united un...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Depending on how you were raised, you lean more towards a highly driven, highly scheduled, productivity mindset OR a more laid back, rest focused mindset where nurturing relationships is prioritized. Parenting can be exhausting…so how can you be intentional about getting things done AND getting proper rest and connection with the people around y...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! It’s frustrating when we ask our kids to clean their room or do a certain task and they don’t do it or don’t do it the way we’d like them to. Right?!  In this episode, I talk about a few of the common mistakes we make as parents that end up setting our kids up to fail. Then, I dive right into a simple 3 Step Process for changing that - for getti...

Send us a Text Message and suggest a topic or guest! Parenting is stressful! And we could all use some relief.  This episode covers the two phrases that tend to bring immediate relief amongst the chaos and stress of parenting. If you aren’t using these phrases with your spouse, partner, or friends already, consider this a challenge to start integrating them into your daily vocabulary.  And let’s b...