EpicParent.tv – Honest • On the Edge • Creative Parenting

Would love to hear from you!!  How have you been blessed and what are you thankful for?

I will never forget October 31^st, 1991! (more…)

I am the worst husband and father when it comes to Valentine’s Day!  Here is a list of this year’s Valentine’s Day failures…

• SCHOOL VALENTINES: I opted “OUT” on valentines for all my kiddos classmates this year!  My wife is in nursing school, I am playing Mr. Mom, and there was no way I had time to make that happen.  MOMS!!  HOW DO YOU MAKE IT ALL HAPPEN!?!  Jodie bailed me out and picked them up tonight.
• HERSHEY KISSES & DIARRHEA: Jodie and I bought the kids old school Hershey Kisses…you know, the huge ones!  We came home from riding on the mountain yesterday and the dogs found them, ate them and had diarrhea all night.  My response to the kids was HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!  Jodie bailed me out and picked something up for them tonight.
• SLOPPY SECONDS: Jodie and I have fallen into the trap to so many parents fall into, and it makes me sick!  We call it sloppy seconds.  Our kids get the first, best, most and biggest while our marriage gets sloppy seconds.  Can you relate?  So…this year for Valentines Day, we thought of our kids first and WE got sloppy seconds…AGAIN!!!

Valentines Day 2011 will  be a pretty forgettable holiday for Team Sprad.  However, this Valentines Day we will strip it down and get naked!  Not literally…well maybe Jodie and I!  (that’s another post for another day).  I am going to have Team Sprad gather together and share WHY we love each other (get real, honest & naked with each other).  I will tell all my kiddos and Jodie specifically why I love them.   Jodie will share WHY she loves me (that should take hours…JK) and then share the same with Cole, Kylie and Tifton.  We will lead our kids to do the same, even with their siblings.

HOW CAN YOU GET NAKED THIS VALENTINES?

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Not much happening @epicparent today, actually spending time w/ Jodie.  We call it Team Sprad fridays!  Keep reading and see what to expect next week.

Monday at EpicParent is family movie night.  We’ll give your FAM recommendations from Team Sprad on great family movies to watch during the holidays.

If you have a favorite family movie, leave a comment and let me know about it so I can share with others.

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Michael Hyatt is the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Thomas Nelson Publishers.  I typically start my day reading his blog, MH:  Intentional Leadership. You can also find Michael on Facebook and Twitter.

Dr. Tim Elmore is the founder and president of Growing Leaders. He is the author of several books, including his most recent, Generation iY: Our Last Chance to Save Their Future. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter as well as catch up with him on his blog Tim Elmore ON LEADING THE NEXT GENERATION.

Today’s post by Dr. Tim Elmore, I actually found on Michael Hyatt’s site yesterday and Tim gave me his approval to use it…thanks a ton Tim and I love what your doing to impact the next generation!

Ahhh, Christmas. It just may be the most wonderful time of the year. Every year, however, parents are reminded of how much our culture has impacted the minds of our children. For instance, we all talk about Christmas being a time of giving — but let’s face it, the first thing kids want to do in December is to make their own Christmas list of what they’ll get, not give.

First, why not start a tradition. Along with creating their own “wish list,” your kids make out a list of the gifts they plan to give away to others. This could include people they know and perhaps people they don’t know. The gifts can be ones they buy with their own money, or some of their own possessions they treasure.

Let’s take it a step further. What if for every gift they put on their wish list, they have to match it with a gift they plan to give away—one of their own toys, dolls, electronic devices, or games? This may just balance their “giving and receiving” experience a bit more. Then, they select a family less fortunate, and make an anonymous drop-off to that family. (Remember “ding dong ditch”?)

I know of a mom and dad who had their kids go through all their toys one December and make two piles. The first pile would include the toys they planned on giving away; the second, toys they felt were worth keeping. (This made room for the new toys they’d soon receive on Christmas.)

The clincher was, this mom and dad talked about sacrificial giving, and shared how they planned to give one of their cars to a needy family. Then, they had their children give away the pile of toys they had planned to keep.

Sacrifice is true generosity. It was hard for a few moments, but unforgettable in the end. Those kids still talk about that incredible experience four years later.

Jesus reminds us: “This poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned” (Mark 12:43-44).

When I was in Jr. High I had to have a white members only jacket!!!  That’s right baby, you know the one!

It was early December 25th, i ran to the tree, pillaged my gifts until I found THE GIFT!  Before I even opened my dream jacket, it was as if time stood still…

I could see all the jr. high ladies (w/ their head gear) mesmerized by my jacket

I could see myself instantly climb from DUD to STUD

I could see a day when all the ladies wanted me…all the young men wanted to be me!

THIS JACKET PROMISED INSTANT FAME,  POPULARITY & CASH!

I slowly opened the gift and there it was…a medium, white, sweet collared BARACUDA jacket!!?!!!??

WHAT?

WHAT IS BARACUDA?

NO MEMBERS ONLY!!

HOW EMBARRASING!!

Times must have been lean & mean at the Sprad Household that Christmas…

Do you remember a time that you hated a gift you were given for Christmas?  If so, what was it?

My good friend, Miles Paludan from lifechurch.tv, is in town with his FAM, hitting the slopes in Steamboat.  Miles spoke at my church yesterday and I was deeply moved and convicted!  His talk was actually on mentoring, but I was wrecked when he briefly mentioned honoring others.

HONOR

to hold in respect, esteem

to show respect for

to bow to (another dancer) in square dancing  (wha????)

I walked away asking, “do I truly honor others”?  Do I esteem them?  Speak life into friends?  Genuinely thank others?  Love others with my actions?  Love my wife with life giving words of affirmation?  Do I honor my father?  Do I truly show my mother how thankful I am for her?   I do a great job bossing my kids, but do I honor them?  Do I honor my step-father for taking care of my mom?

So Team Sprad has decided to give the gift of honor this year!  We all sat down and wrote deep, meaningful, heartfelt letters to express honor to those we love.  Here is an excerpt from the letter that I wrote to my step father…

I just want you to know that I have a deep respect for the man that you have become.  I honor you as a dad for the way that you love me and have taken care of my mom & you are an amazing grandfather to my kids.  I love you, thank you, miss you and pray for you ~ your son, Chris

(mom, the letter is in the mail…so don’t give it away!)

Teach your kids to give the gift of honor this Christmas.  Sit down with them and write deep, impactful, thoughtful, respectful, loving, caring and honoring letters to those you love!

Click HERE to check out other Christmas related posts.