Use timers to motivate and structure. "Better have your jammies on and teeth brushed by the time the timer goes off!" Using a simple timer helps things not drag on and on.


2-5



Birthday traditions: 1) Plant something every year. 2) Birthday interview on camera or voice recording.


5



Healing happens when you give up the hope that the past could have been any different. xoxo


20



Talk about how choices become habits. Habits can become addictions. Describe how pathways are literally dug into the brain and it's very hard to change them once those paths are made.


13-16



Talk about what patterns of abuse look like. Teach them to recognize red flags like love-bombing, isolating from friends and family, controlling behavior and threats of violence and/or self-harm.


14, 16, 20, 21



Rent kayaks.


14-16



Don’t quit your job until you have another job. Suck it up and make the best out of it.


21



People may have all kinds of different motives for doing what they do, saying what they say. To “give someone the benefit of the doubt” means that you consider what the best possible reason they may have for doing what they did and assume that was the motive. If someone has earned your trust, even if it’s that they’ve done nothing to break your trust, give them the benefit of the doubt.


11-15



Consider the source. Consider whose company they are in. You may not know much about issue xyz but look and see who endorses them. If people you trust place trust in them.


11, 13, 15, 18, 21



Explore the magic of Deer Valley YMCA Camp


07-13



Sometimes you have to disconnect the “doing” from the “feeling.” Not so much that you’re disconnected from your feelings but that you’re able to tell them to get in the backseat while you take the wheel. It’s a skill. Practice makes you better at it.


12, 16, 19, 21



When you feel sad, mad, confused or in any way upset, go to a quiet place to catch your breath. If you can sit with it and let it tell you what it wants to tell you, then you become its friend. But if you try to deny the feeling, or numb it, it grows much stronger and it fights you.


9, 13, 19



The person who lives in the body gets to say who touches that body.


5



Don’t be afraid of work.


12, 17, 21



The mind replays what the heart wants to heal.


16



You’re gonna be misunderstood a lot. Some people just won’t like you. It’s okay. Wish them well and let it go.


10, 13, 16, 21



Pick a project on Instructables.com and work on it together this winter.


7



Don’t let some dumb-sh*t’s overconfidence get you killed.


11, 14, 17, 19, 21



Two words: Kinetic Sand.


3



Consensual sex requires no persuasion, convincing or begging.


14, 17



No bragging. Don’t toot your own horn.


11, 15, 21



Toddlers fall... a lot. Most falls are harmless but sometimes bad accidents happen. Head injuries are scary because they bleed and swell. If bleeding doesn't stop within a few minutes or you can see it's a big gash, head to the urgent care. And remember if the swelling goes out (“goose egg”) that’s a good thing: Better out than in.


2



Ask “Is your belly full?” Instead of saying “Clean your plate!” Have them stay in touch with hunger/food connection.


3



There will be many times in your life you feel powerless. What makes you feel powerful? For me, it's a good run, listening to good music with the volume on high. Prayer reminds me I'm connected to God, who is powerful beyond all measure.


14-17



None of us should ever have to apologize for being who we are.


10, 14, 21



Model good nutrition and fitness routine.


4



Rudeness is a weak person’s imitation of strength.


13, 21



Typically, brains aren’t mature until about age 25. ADHD brains take longer


17, 21



Give books. Inscribe them. Just a line or two can turn a good book into a treasure. Great for any occasion.


17



“How we learn to hold what hurts shapes so much of who we are. What we choose to do with our pain defines us more than most things.“ -Chani Nicholas


11, 14, 17