February Ezine
Top Five Free Valentine’s Day Gifts to Give To Your Special Valentine
Love and marriage and romance have been in the air at our house for the last year. It started last summer when our oldest boy got married and has continued through to this year when our daughter getting engaged this last Christmas Eve and her wedding is coming up in July. I have looked at more wedding magazines and wedding invitations and cakes then ever before. I love the atmosphere of love and happiness in the air. Valentine’s Day does that for me too. What are you doing for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? This year, with the pinch of finances, because of two weddings almost within a year of each other and the economy. I was wondering what I could do for my man that wouldn’t cost any money but show him how much I love him. You are welcome to use some of these ideas for your own loved one this Valentine’s Day.
1. Time is something that we can give to our men. I’m not talking about the fixing dinner, yelling at the kids, and surfing the internet with him in the room, nodding as he scans the TV telling you about his drive home. Long ago in our marriage we were trained that the first 30 minutes when Ron gets home we spend them talking. Doing nothing else and giving our full attention to each other. We usually use this time to determine what is going to happen the rest of the evening. The important thing is we connect. Also give your love a big old kiss when they get home. Touch is an important element for a person.
2. Words of love and kindness. Most of us spend a lot of time with strangers and co-workers talking to them with respect and give pats on the back to them. But when was the last time you complimented your mate? It doesn’t have to be a big thing simple household chore that have to be done but show gratitude toward your love one and you will make their day. Did he take the trash out? Thank him for it. Did she cook dinner? Give her a wink and compliment her meatloaf. Nobody can make it as good as she can. You might give a strange look especially if you have not complimented much in the past but they will like it. So today, make sure to find something you can compliment your spouse about.
3. Attitude is very important. Think what a happy upbeat attitude would do for the special person in your life. If you sent them off to work with a hug, kiss and a smile telling them to have a good day. Your spouse would float through the day with a smile on their face eager to head home back to you at the end of the day.
4. Show respect for your significant other in front of others. If it be in front of your mother or your children or any one else, we need to be careful with the things we say to others about our loved one as well as to them. Respect can also be shown in our actions towards them, when they are talking turn towards them, engage them in conversation and treat them as another adult if nothing else.
5. Touch is so important to a person’s psyche. For most their love language is touch. A kiss, hug, a back rub, touching their hand as they walk by all of these things signals to your mate of your care for them.
So, this Valentine’s Day if you would like to give your special Valentine something that is much more important then a card and some chocolate think about the above gifts that you can give to them and spend absolutely no money.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
To receive your free Fiery Hot Top 10 Marriage Help Tips Report with the videos click here.
Please join us at The Odd Couple Blog
Shawn
Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love. – Erich Fromm
Chi’s Corner
This month is all about love and believe me I know plenty about love. The humans in this house all love and adore me. I wouldn’t have it any other way; I can usually use this influence to get a night time cookie or pig’s ear. If you have a cutie at home (human or hairy) who had a fun Valentine’s Day please email the picture to us at support@theoddcoupleblog.com. We would love to feature your cutie in our next Ezine.
Remember that influence I was speaking of. I got my people to give you a free ebook called Hundreds of Things You Can do to Better Your Relationship. Just click here.
Love is loving what your lover loves. – Anonymous
Helping Your Child to Love Reading Part 2
Last month we shared part 1 of this report. We wanted to continue on with it this month.
Let the Questions Begin
Ask questions when you are done reading. Treat him like an expert in what he is reading. What was your child’s favorite part of the story, which was his favorite character? What didn’t he like about the story who where his least favorite characters? How would he of liked the story to have ended? Make sure to take his opinions seriously.
Write and Talk, Too
While reading with your child is most important, there are other activities that help to get children ready to read. With a solid foundation, your child will not only read, but will read with enthusiasm.
Begin long before you expect your child actually to read, and continue long after your child is an independent reader.
Talking about Stories
* Have your child tell stories like those you have told. Ask: “And then what happened?” to urge the story along.
* Listen closely when your child speaks. Be enthusiastic and responsive.
* Encourage your child to express him or herself. This will help your child develop a wide vocabulary. It can also help with pronouncing words clearly.
Having a good audience is very helpful for a child to improve language skills, as well as poise in speaking. Parents can be the best audience a child will ever have.
To The Library We Go
Visit the library. Learning to use the library is a true lifetime skill. Do start early. Get a library card in your child’s name and one for yourself if you don’t have one. Go to the children’s section and spend time reading and selecting books to take home. Check out books yourself to show your child everyone can use and enjoy books and the library. Be sure to introduce your child to the librarian and ask about special programs the library has for children.
One of the most powerful tools in creating a child aiming for success is to create a hunger to learn. This can be done with just a regular visit to your local library. Make it a must have activity for your week, getting out a mix of both non-fiction and fiction books for them to read. Teach your child to check the table of contents and the preface or introduction of a book to find out what is in it.
Help them find books on that topic to investigate further. For older children make sure they learn the different services offered by the library such as reserving books, using the computers or other media opportunities. Encourage your child to join any reading programs that might be available. They can also learn how to look up authors and subjects of special interest in the card catalogs.
With computers in every home it might be tempting to use that as a child’s only source of finding information. But surround yourself with books first and you’ll be setting up a life long journey of self education and success.
As you can see the beauty of a public library is that there is something for every age. For toddlers of 18 to 36 months old they enjoy activities that they can be active and included in such as finger plays, rhymes and songs. These are activities that help with the development of language skills.
Let Their Interest Lead the Way
Your child may go through a period when they favor one book and want it read night after night. It is not unusual for children to favor a particular story, and this can be boring for parents. Keep in mind, however, that a favorite story may speak to your child’s interests or emotional needs. Be patient. Continue to expose your children to a wealth of books and eventually they will be ready for more stories.
Children’s reading interest depends on many different things some of which are their general intelligence, the development that they have in their reading skills, their likes and dislikes, where they live, their age and gender.
The outside influences that touch a child’s life leads to curiosity on their part. If they drive by a construction site they want to know how the equipment is run. If they spend the day in a park the interest in insects and bugs become important. Why is the sky blue, the grass green and the tree trunks brown? These are all great ways to open up the world to your child and to help them understand how it operates around your child. That is the correct time to find books that have these subjects in them and expose your child to stories that tell what they are curious about.
Your childhood memories of your favorite books can also help you to steer your child to some great titles that you know they would like but have not yet found on their own. The great classics that you enjoyed as a child might make the perfect story for those nighttime readings that you share.
Also, think of books as a way to broaden your child’s interest outside of their own little community. Reading books about different lands and people learning their customs. How different people dress and foods they eat, these are still concepts that a younger child will understand and find interesting.
Give the Gift of Books
Start your own home library. Designate a bookcase or shelf especially for your child. Encourage your child to arrange the books by some method-books about animals, holiday books, and favorite books.
Keep an eye out for inexpensive books at flea markets, garage sales, used book stores, and discount tables at book stores. Many public libraries sell old books once a year. You will find some real bargains!
Consider giving your child a monthly book allowance to encourage him to buy new books. Your willingness to spend money on books shows him how much you value reading. You can also subscribe him to a children’s magazine or a book of the month club that will foster his interest in reading.
It is not hard to build a child’s library. How many holidays do you hear from friends and family we just do not know what to get for the child? The adults in a child’s life will find it a breath of fresh air to be able to offer to the child in their lives that they love very much a book that they know will bring happiness and enjoyment for years to come. Nobody enjoys buying nor receiving the cheap plastic toys that will be broke tomorrow and also having an alternative to the games and equipment that go with the entertainment systems that many children have today.
The Free Reading Report 10 Tips to Get Your Child to Love Reading is a great resource for any parent. Get your free report here.
Love is a game that two can play and both win. – Eva Gabor
To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful. – Bess Myerson
February Goals and looking ahead
In February think of new, inexpensive or free things you can do to show your sweetie that you love them. Chi shared a great free ebook with 100′s of things to do to better your relationship.
Look at the things you can do to help your child to enjoy reading. Download the instant report that will give you those tools.
Send in a picture of your cutie (child or animal) that enjoyed Valentine’s Day with you.
Shawn, Mrs. Odd will be in Atlanta in February at the NAMS conference. If you are going to be there make sure to say hi!
Next month has St Patrick’s Day. Start planning right now how you can use green technology to make our world a better place.
Love is not a matter of counting the years, but making the years count. – Michele St. Amand
About The Odd Couple:
Ron and Shawn make up the “Odd Couple.” We are a husband and wife team who has been together for the last 28 years. We have laugh, cried, fought, made up and made more mistakes then any two people could. Through it all we have raised the greatest three kids in the world! Mostly, we learned how to use commitment and communication to keep our marriage intact.
Our hearts break when we see the marriages and families struggle and at times not make it. We have no marriage counseling degrees just on the job training, our desire is to give you simple, back-to-basic principles to help your marriage and family life thrive and grow.
Here is a picture of us at the world famous Ft Worth, Texas Stockyards enjoying Christmas in the sunshine!
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January Ezine
Happy January everyone! With us half way into the month how are your New Year Resolutions doing? Unfortunately, studies have shown that most of us have given up our resolutions by this time. I have heard many say that they are so tired of not being able to follow through with their resolutions that they just aren’t going to make any this year. I can understand that up to a certain point. I know I have failed on a lot of my resolutions but this year I did something a little bit different. I quite the wishing game and joined the planning team.
What do I mean by that? Well, before it was I am going to lose weight. The concept was vague enough that I hoped I could achieve it in some way. And I usually did try to lose weight by skipping a meal or not eating McDonalds for a week. But this year I wrote down a plan for how I was going to lose weight and how much I was going to lose. I wrote down a plan as detailed as I could make it. What I was going to eat and when. What I am not going to eat, they kind of exercise I was going to do. I also plan to journal about my journey that way I can read back and get inspired by how great I’m doing or I can see the habits that lead me into problem areas.
You might be asked yourself, great Shawn. But what does that have to do with marriage and raising kids. Well, did you make any resolutions about your marriage and family? Like, I’m going to be a better mom to my kids and not lose my temper so quickly with them. Or, I plan on being a better wife to my husband and have dinner ready when he gets home from work. Those resolutions can fall by the wayside and you will be discouraged again this year. Or you can have a winning plan to make you feel better about yourself as a person, mommy and wife!
How are you going to keep your patience better with the kids? Pinpoint when you lose patience the most is it when they get home from school, in the vehicle going places, at dinner time. Once you know when they you can take steps to help you so you don’t go to the point of being flustered enough to lose your patience. Do you need to have a snack ready when the kids come home? Some books in the car for the kids to look at while you are driving, maybe some easy chores for the kids to be able to help with dinner might help in the other situations.
You want to be a better wife as well. Do you know the areas that you can work on to be a better partner with your spouse? Do you struggle with the house chores, are you at work all day and have trouble getting dinner ready in the evenings? When you know where the struggle is now you can set a plan of action. Write it down is the biggest way to help out this situation. If it’s chores in the house write down all the chores and divide them up between everyone who lives in the house. Even the youngest pre-schooler can help and they often enjoy it. Just keep the chores age appropriate for the kids but if everyone pitches in it makes for a nicer home life for all. If meals are problems make out a weekly meal planner and do all your grocery shopping in one day. Make up as many of the meals ahead of time, freezing them if you need to. The night before look at the planner to see what is for dinner and get it out of the freezer and make sure it will be ready to go when you get home.
The next important item for making your resolutions work this year is to journal. Write down what happened with your plan if it worked and failed and why you think it did. Then write down 5 things you are grateful for. The first section will help you when you go to plan again the second section will keep your eyes on the good things in your life.
Join us at The Odd Couple Blog
Have a great 2012!
Shawn
“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.” – Khalil Gibran
Chi’s Corner
If you don’t know who Chi is, she is the Boss here at The Odd Couple Blog headquarters. This little 7 pound Chihuahua that rules the roost here (We happily and adorably allow it!) had a very Merry Christmas. Here is a picture of her with some of her toys.
If you have a cutie at home (human or hairy) who had a very Merry Christmas please email the picture to us at support@theoddcoupleblog.com. We would love to feature your cutie in our next Ezine.
Where there is great love there are always miracles. – Willa Cather
Helping Your Child to Love Reading Part 1
If you have a child who is not enjoying the activity of reading and can see the struggle that it brings into their life every school day. There are things that you can do to help your child learn to love reading.
It all begins with you
Be sure your child sees you reading often, this reinforces the message that reading is important and enjoyable. A child will notice this behavior and may even go get a book to share with you. This is a time that you do not want to ignore, spending time with each other and building memories of book enjoyment will be beneficial years down the road.
You don’t need to be an especially skillful reader yourself to help your child. In fact, some public libraries offer adult literacy programs that involve reading to children as a way to improve literacy skills for the whole family. Nor do you have to devote great amounts of time to reading with your child. It’s the quality of time that counts. Just be consistent–give as much time as you can each day to help your child.
Storytelling
“Why?” This is the question we parents are always trying to answer. It’s good that children ask questions: that’s the best way to learn. All children have two wonderful resources for learning–imagination and curiosity. As a parent, you can awaken your children to the joy of learning by encouraging their imagination and curiosity. Telling each other stories is the basis for reading and writing.
Helping your child become a reader is an adventure you will not want to miss. The benefits to your child are immeasurable.
Read Out loud
There is no more important activity for preparing your child to succeed as a reader than reading aloud together. Fill your story times with a variety of books. Be consistent, be patient, and watch the magic work. Start young and stay with it at just a few months of age, an infant can look at pictures, listen to your voice, and point to objects on cardboard pages.
Guide your child by pointing to the pictures, and say the names of the various objects. By drawing attention to pictures and associating the words with pictures and the real-world objects, your child will learn the importance of language.
Children learn to love the sound of language before they even notice the existence of printed words on a page. Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand the written word. When the rhythm and melody of language become a part of a child’s life, learning to read will be as natural as learning to walk and talk.
Even after children learns to read by themselves, it’s still important for you to read aloud together. By reading stories that are on their interest level, but beyond their reading level, you can stretch young readers’ understanding and motivate them to improve their skills.
With your help, your children can begin to love reading and build a lifelong relationship with the printed word, so they grow into adults who read easily and frequently whether for business, knowledge, or pleasure.
The Free Reading Report 10 Tips to Get Your Child to Love Reading is a great resource for any parent. Get your free report here.
“Love is not self seeking, it’s not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong.” (1 Corinthians 13:5 )
Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. – Benjamin Franklin
January Goals and looking ahead
In January look at your resolutions and make a plan to succeed. Start a journal listing what happened in your day and at least 5 things you are thankful for.
Look at the things you can do to help your child to enjoy reading. Download the instant report that will give you those tools.
Send in a picture of your cutie (child or animal) who enjoyed Christmas with you.
Next month has Valentine’s Day. Start planning right now what you can do to make it a special day for your sweetie.
“All our dreams can come true…if we have the courage to pursue them.” -Walt Disney
About The Odd Couple:
Ron and Shawn make up the “Odd Couple.” We are a husband and wife team who has been together for the last 28 years. We have laugh, cried, fought, made up and made more mistakes then any two people could. Through it all we have raised the greatest three kids in the world! Mostly, we learned how to use commitment and communication to keep our marriage intact.
Our hearts break when we see the marriages and families struggle and at times not make it. We have no marriage counseling degrees just on the job training, our desire is to give you simple, back-to-basic principles to help your marriage and family life thrive and grow.
Here is a picture of us at the world famous Ft Worth, Texas Stockyards enjoying Christmas in the sunshine!
