No Ordinary Days

Do your children trust you? When you promise them you'll go on a bike ride, do you mean it? When you give them 10 seconds to come to you, do you continue counting to 11, 12, 13 before you really get serious? Actions such as these undermine the level of trust our children have in the durability of our word. They also create an environment that breeds disobedience, and worse, makes them less likely to confide in you in the future. In a world that is constantly lying to them, shouldn't we be among those that never would?

The principle of authority is pretty important to a parent. We appeal to it frequently to steer our children into compliance. If we had no authority, how would we ever get them to clean up after themselves or settle spats between them and their siblings? But do we, as parents, truly understand this authority we possess? Who gave it to us? What are its bounds? How is it properly used? The answers we give to these questions will not only determine our children's ability to respect our authority, but our ability to respect it as well.

The world grows more chaotic by the day. At some point we need to step back and ask why. Why this growing frustration, and anger and disillusionment? The simple answer is that we're growing increasingly more bold in our transgression of the fundamental laws and principles that undergird our existence. The more we repudiate the truths that exist in the heart of God and that are intended to govern our thoughts and actions, the more devastating the consequences. These consequences can be felt at every level. They can be felt by the mother or father who insist on coercing their children into obedience through fear and intimidation and they can be (or will be) felt by the politician who wields their limited authority as a bludgeon in their perilous pursuit of power.

The most important jobs in the world have the most stringent requirements and demanding qualifications, right? Well, if we're talking about traditional jobs, yes. What about being a mother or a father? In that case the answer is no. In fact there really are no up front requirements to becoming a parent - no detailed job description. Regardless of qualifications or prior experience jut about anyone can "accept" this job and in many cases people do so without ever making a formal application. How can this be?! The answer to that question has everything to do with the "CEO" overseeing the hiring process and His grand design in "hiring" us and the work he has called us to perform.

What should you allow your children to watch? And when? This is a question that many parents struggle with. Sometimes we introduce a new video too soon, only to discover that it has effectively blocked off the the show or the movie they had watched previously. You've lead them to new and exciting ground and the old ground (show) no longer interests them. But despite the errors in judgement we often make, above all we must make sure that our children do not travel through the media landscape alone. We must do our best to not only guide them, but equip them with the discernment they need to detect negative influences on their own.

As they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The same could be said of your noisier, needier children. They're the one's that get most of your attention. Your quiet ones? Well, they kind of recede into the background. They aren't fussing; aren't causing any trouble, so you kind of leave them alone. But this can be a terrible mistake, for while they're left to themselves they're also struggling with life and growing up, albeit in a less exuberant way. So this episode is for the quiet child (or children) in your household. Don't let their quiet demeanor deceive you. They need you every bit as much as your other children (perhaps more so).

If you look around the world today, it seems like we're fighting the final battle on multiple philosophical (and existential) fronts. What should we, as parents, do about this and how can raise our children in such a way that will ensure ultimate victory? It has everything to do with getting the basics right - while we still can.

If you could use one word to define who your children are - what they represent and what their ultimate purpose is - what word would you choose? Well, if you were to ask God, he would use the word "arrows". That might not be the first word that comes to our minds, but surely it's worth our consideration as to why it came to his? Indeed, this one word carries with it so many rich and profound connotations that not only does it completely reframe how we view our children, it also redefines our obligations towards them.

As difficult as parenting is, winter has a way of making it more so. It's a time of rest for the earth. It can also be, if we're not careful, a time where we relax our efforts a bit (or a lot). Before you know it, we're in a parenting rut. If this sounds familiar, just know this episode is for you and also know you're not alone. Also in this episode we'll talk about 3 incredibly important things you must do this year to strengthen your home for the days ahead.

In episode 36 we discussed how toddler obedience is often the viewed as the holy grail of parenting. Many parents aren't aware of this, but not all obedience is the same and its quality largely depends on the way you go about training it. In this episode we'll examine the two errant child training paths parents often take and how that, despite our best intentions, they actually lead to disobedience, and worst of all, idolatry.

If someone was to ask you what your number one job is as your toddler's mother or father, aside from keeping them alive (lol), what would your answer be? That's what this episode attempts to answer and, spoiler alert, it has little to nothing to do with teaching them to obey.

The world around us and everything in it seems to be crumbling. We're not sure what's on the horizon but it doesn't look friendly. Reports of economic distress and looming war abound and that's on top of the duress each home is directly experiencing. We ask ourselves, "What can I do about it? What difference could I and my insignificant home make in the face of such powerful forces?" This episode attempts to answer that question and to remind you that your home, serving Christ within your humble domain, is far more powerful, far more important, than you realize.Links mentioned in this episode: The Well Ordered Day Planner - purchase here: https://www.thewellorderedhomeschool.com/products/the-well-ordered-day-planner-2026-edition

The world and everything in it (everyone, too often!) is growing increasingly fake. Science, politics, social media, causes, personalities, food, medicine - all of it is becoming less real by the day. That's not to say that truth no longer exists in any or all of these arenas, it's just that it's becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the truth from the lies. We, as adults, are often unsuccessful at discerning the truth. How much more difficult do you think it is and will be for our children? This episode is a call to turn away from the lies that surround us and grow more prevalent by the day and to equip our children to embrace the truth and defend it to the death.

We've said it many times - raising children is hard. Like discouragingly hard at times. Sometimes that discouragement comes from the mouths of our children. They see the disfunction in our lives and they call it out and openly wonder why we can't get our act together. What they fail to appreciate (and at their age, you really can't fault them) is that while it's true that we're failing to some degree, it's also true that we're trying. What this ultimately says is that we care and also that we ultimately expect to succeed. This perseverance, despite the pressures committed to our failure, is the very example they will look back on to help them persevere through their own struggles later in life.

Here's a nearly universal truth recognized among parents - every child is different. If that's true (and it is) then shouldn't the child training methods you apply to each child be different too? The obvious answer is 'yes' but parent's are hesitant to admit it. Why? In this episode we examine the answer to this question and what the appropriate response to the uniqueness of our children should be as parents.

Raising children can be quite distressing, especially when you feel you don't have any answers to the struggles you're facing. In truth, the answers are all around us, we simply don't have eyes to see them. In this episode we talk about a truth that many parents are either unaware of or have forgotten altogether and it very well could be the key to dramatically altering your relationship with your child for the better.

In the midst of the recent tragedy that we're still processing and many of us can't quite get over, there's a question that keeps sounding in my ears - what are you going to do about it? I imagine many of you are hearing it too. There's an obvious answer and they're staring directly up into our faces.

Thoughts on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the legacy of his extraordinary commitment to not only his home, but to millions outside of it. He was among the very few who have been strong enough to work a good work on two fronts and yet not allow one to detract from the other. May he rest in peace.

Children often have a lot to say but we don't seem to have a lot of time to listen. Sure, we can smile and nod along as our 5 year old talks about their day or throw out a few deftly placed but insincere "Uh huh's" while our 12 year old attempts to convince us that they'll never actually use math in the real world. But our mind is often elsewhere, preoccupied with matters of true importance. How mistaken we are. If we can't find the time to truly listen to our children when they're young and thereby show them just how important they're concerns are to us, then they'll most likely deprive us of the privilege of listening to them when they're older. A world of meaning and significance is caught up in everything our children say, it's just a question of whether or not we care to listen.Find our character and habit training program for children here!Find handmade, educational chalkboards for children here!Find our homeschool planner here!

We place a lot of expectation on our children and issue a lot of commands. But have you ever stopped to think about what's behind those expectations and commands? This episode will ask you to do the difficult and perhaps even painful work of exploring the true motivations behind the directives you give your children. For as important as the "laws" in your home are, they have little to no lasting effect without the proper spirit bringing them forth.Find our Character and Habit Training Program for Children here. Find our handcrafted, educational chalkboards for children here.

In this episode we talk about the thing that children want the most but that we seem to have so little to give - time. It's much too easy to allow other activities and pursuits, including necessary ones, to get in the way of us spending time with our children. We count on there always being a tomorrow (which is usually the case) but what we don't count on is the nearly imperceptible loss of unique moments and seasons in the midst of waiting for tomorrow to arrive. Let's make sure it doesn't happen in our homes. Let's give ourselves to our children while there's still time.

In this episode we talk about the prevalence of technology in our children's lives and how we can minimize its ability to negatively influence them. Also we offer some advice to first time homeschoolers and talk about the one activity that's more important than learning in your homeschool.

This is part two of a series of episodes on preparing to parent during one of the most formative periods in your child's life - their teen years. Whether you have children distant from, nearing, or in the middle of their teens, these episodes are for you.

What's the best way to talk to your teenager? Talk to them for the 12 years they're not a teenager. In part one of this series, we'll focus on the groundwork that needs to be laid so that when your child arrives at the pivotal teen years, they won't just listen to you, they'll actively seek your counsel. It all starts by building trust and communicating a genuine message of love all throughout their younger years so that, when real life comes at them hard and fast, you'll be the first person they turn to for guidance and a listening ear. Links mentioned in this episode:⁠⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠⁠⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

Parents are fond of using force. Whether it's yelling or threatening or whatever it might be, we're often convinced that the only way to curb misbehavior is to intimidate or frighten our child into compliance. And while some sort of force may initially be necessary at times to get our point across, it's never capable of truly reforming our children's behavior. Why? Because it's terrible at achieving understanding and our children ultimately need to understand why an action or behavior is right or wrong. So while force, properly applied, may get a child to the place where they're open to instruction, it cannot be the vehicle that delivers it. That must come from us with all the love we can muster. Resources mentioned in this episode:Character Badges: https://thewellorderedhomeschool.com/products/character-badges-laminated-set-ages-5-13

Raising children can be frustrating - terribly frustrating. Often we feel the need to unburden our frustrations on others. "Can you believe they said that?!" or, " Who do they think they are?" or, "You wouldn't believe what I'm going through," and on and on. But we rarely stop to think about the degree to which our actions are responsible for their actions. We don't have to look very far to realize that many of the struggles we see in our children's lives are there as a result of our unwillingness to sacrifice for them. Or more specifically that there's a particular level of sacrifice that we've deemed a road too far. This begs the question - just how far are you willing to go?

I'm not sure that you would characterize this generation as aimless. It's just that so many of our aims are wrong. Mainly, the one that directs us to serve ourselves exclusively. That's not why we're here. Nor is it why your family is here, together, at this particular time. You and your family have a mission - you just might not know it yet. But that mission needs to be discovered and it needs to be communicated to your children so they can take part. The truth is, children actually like work as long as they can sense the purpose in it. And there's no more purposeful work than the work you engage in, together, for the benefit of others.Links mentioned in this episode:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning! 

This episode is dedicated to mothers and the inestimably valuable sacrifices they make on behalf of their families. We cannot thank you enough for all that you do.

Isn't it strange how things of little to no importance have a way of crowding out the truly important? Take for instance the inordinate amount of time we spend bickering with other people or fretting about the future or worse - engaging in both of these activities on social media. All the while life - beautiful, real, soul reviving life - is going on around us. But what if we don't have eyes to see it? What if we're so engrossed in the things we see while we're looking down we've lost the ability to look up? May it not be so with us parents, for of all people, when it comes to beauty, we have the most to lose. Mentioned In This Podcast:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Character Badges ⁠ - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

Over the course of our parenting journey it is certain that we will make mistakes along the way. Regret is waiting to greet us as we make our way to the finish line and he's there to collect a debt. Our job to make sure that we owe him as little as possible. How do we do this? By learning from our mistakes and perceiving the true value of our short time with our children. In this way, though our mistakes be many, our regrets will be few. Then we'll recognize that this process of refinement, this process of stumbling and course correcting, is what enabled us to reach our destination.

Yelling is a quick fix with a short shelf-life. What’s worse, it rarely reaches the heart of our children for good. In this episode we'll look at the signs that might indicate you yell too much as well as the reasons why parents feel compelled to yell. We'll also discuss some of the damaging effects it can have on our relationship with our children.

Christian parents are quite familiar with Ephesians 6:1 - 2, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise;" We may have trotted this verse out in moments of disobedience or when we felt our children were being disrespectful. Of course, as it applies to our children the second verse is true, no matter the circumstances. The Lord expects them to honor us as their parents. But applied to us? The question should undoubtably be raised - are we the sort of parents that deserve this honor? While it's true that these verses present our children with an important commandment, (arguably the most important of their years at home) it's also true that we, as their parents, can represent the greatest obstacle to their keeping it. May that not be the case. May we endeavor to deserve the honor and respect that the Lord says is our due.

We live in a day where our children, and everything they represent, is under constant threat. The time is long past for us as parents to become clear eyed with respect to these threats and to fight, every single day, on our children's behalf. It's a fight that requires sacrifice, perhaps for some even the ultimate sacrifice, but how could we give our children anything less?

Our children are on a journey back to the one who created them (as are we). Our job is to help them along their way but we are also more than capable of hindering them. We can do this in many ways, but in this episode we're going to focus on our being either too harsh or too lenient. Exclusively focusing on our child's faults to the near exclusion of their strengths, or vice versa, is at its heart a failure to properly represent the character of God to them. God is just and merciful. Your children need mercy and justice in their lives. They need us to portray God in as clear a light as possible, but when we're out of balance, we can actually be the thing that is obscuring our child's line of sight to him. In this sense, parenting is an exercise in getting out of the way. Mentioned In This Podcast:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Character Badges ⁠ - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

When it comes to your identity as a parent, what's the message you're trying to send to your child? That you know what's best? Conveying that message is understandable but it has a fatal flaw - you don't always know what's best and you of all people should know that you aren't perfect. With that in mind there is a better and more effective message to send to your children - that you want what's best. This message doesn't require you to be right all the time, but it does require humility and a willingness to admit when you're wrong, yes, even to your child. Let's face it parents, despite our best intentions we often make mistakes. It's OK to say you're sorry.

We as parents would love it if all we had to do was to tell our children what to do and they just did it. Of course it almost never works like that. Not only are nearly all of the tasks we give them difficult for them to carry out (due to their lack of experience) they rarely see the value of the tasks seeing as how they're, well, children. In this episode we discuss how we need to approach the issue of getting our children to help around the house (or even acquiring qualities of sound character) the same way we would teaching them to ride a bike. Just as importantly we discuss how getting what we want from them means giving them what they want from us.

Do you know what you should reasonably be able to expect from your 3 year old or 10 year old? How about your 1 month old? The truth is it is all too easy for our expectations to be unequal to our children's age, whether they are too high or too low. Unmet expectations can be a source of great frustration, and frustration almost always serves to weaken our relationship with our children. Knowing them and their level of understanding and the intent that they are capable of can go a long ways towards avoiding this frustration and building stronger relationships.

Obedience is like the holy grail of parenting. Not only does it make our lives as parents a whole lot easier, we believe raising obedient children forms a part of our duty. The truth is, there really is only one reason why your children should obey you - because God told them to. Sadly, we often abuse our authority to coerce our children into obedience, thus making it more difficult for them to recognize and honor this commandment. This episode will explore the reasons why we often parent this way and what we can do help our children keep "the first commandment with promise."

(This is the second part of a two part series). To parent well you need principles. But principles can only take you so far if you don't know who you're applying them to. Do you know your child? Do you know their likes and dislikes? Do you understand why they do the things they do - why they respond the way they do to you? Regardless of whether you do (or think you do) every parent can benefit from becoming a student of their children. The more you study and the more you observe, the deeper your appreciation for them will grow along with your ability to reach their heart for good.Mentioned In This Podcast:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Character Badges ⁠ - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

To parent well you need principles. But principles can only take you so far if you don't know who you're applying them to. Do you know your child? Do you know their likes and dislikes? Do you understand why they do the things they do - why they respond the way they do to you? Regardless of whether you do (or think you do) every parent can benefit from becoming a student of their children. The more you study and the more you observe, the deeper your appreciation for them will grow along with your ability to reach their heart for good. Mentioned In This Podcast:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Character Badges ⁠ - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

There's no denying that the journey of parenting is arduous, the question is, how far will we go? All along the way there will be naysayers, doubters, scoffers. "Why are you doing this?" they'll ask (it's a question you'll pose to yourself on occasion as well). This question is a "checkpoint" of sorts, a mini-test. To pass you have to provide a reasonable answer, or at least one that you remain satisfied with. You can boil the question down to the first word - "Why?" Your answer is absolutely critical and will ultimately determine the nature of the sacrifice you're willing commit to as a parent.Mentioned In This Podcast:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Character Badges ⁠ - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

There are many, many different kinds of parents out there, but among parents who are conscientious about how their children turn out, there are 3 predominant groups - Right Side, Left Side, and Center of the Road parents. What are the characteristics that define each of these groups and how can you ensure you're in the right one? That's the topic of today's episode.Mentioned In This Podcast:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Character Badges ⁠ - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

If you want to steer a ship, you need control of the rudder. If you want to steer your child, you need control of the heart. But how do you gain this control and how much control are we talking about exactly? This isn't as easily answered as you might think. Many parents believe the way to the heart is through the will, and so they set out to "break" or "conquer" their child's will as if it were some hostile defense opposing their righteous crusade to gain their child's heart. But neither your child's heart nor their will should be conquered - it should be consciously yielded, and that to one who has proven themselves worthy of the privilege. Mentioned In This Podcast:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Character Badges ⁠ - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

Here are some things we know - for most of (in some cases, all of) our children's time under our roof we are bigger, stronger, smarter, richer, and more experienced than they are. These are all traits or characteristics upon which authority may be established, but terrible conditions from which it should be maintained. Furthermore, relationships founded exclusively on authority are often cold, repugnant even. Good parents, while respecting the authority they have been entrusted with, know that humility does far more to build trust and commend them to the heart of their child. Mentioned In This Podcast:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Character Badges ⁠ - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

I think many parents (understandably) would very much like it if each one of their children came with their own instruction manual - like the ones you might find in the glove box of your car or that come included with IKEA furniture. Fortunately, they don't, because if they did we would miss out on one of the most profound experiences of being a parent - the experience of seeing the world through their eyes. But their remains, and has only ever been, one way to do that. You have to "go where they are" and for us as parents there is simply no mere mechanical way of doing that. It requires sacrificial love and humility - something no manual could ever impart.Mentioned In This Podcast:⁠The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner ⁠⁠Character Badges ⁠ - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13⁠Chalk Full of Design⁠ - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the No Ordinary Days podcast! This episode is all about laying the groundwork for all that's to come. Why are we doing this? Why the name? Why now? The short version is, we feel passionate about parenting, about children, about family. I've been talking about these things for years at live events, but it's time (past time) to speak to a broader audience. The long version? Well, you'll have to listen. Enjoy.Mentioned In This Podcast:The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner Character Badges - Character and Habit program for children ages 3-13Chalk Full of Design - Handcrafted, Educational chalkboards for children! Enjoy screen free learning!