7 Secrets of Fun Families

What's that saying about raising a family?
The days are long, but the years are short. That's the carpe diem sentiment we heard from readers when we asked them to weigh in with favorite ideas for packing family life full of as much joy as possible. From hundreds of responses, we selected the best and organized them into seven categories. As you'll see, the ideas are simple (Make a list of activities! Draw on the windows!), but the memories created are lasting.

1. They plan together for adventure.

Defeating inertia is easier when you've done a bit of preparation. These families understand that having a game plan for fun is key to ensuring that special excursions and activities don't get put off for "someday."

• Encouraging Outings: The Linduski family keeps an inspirational bulletin board in the entryway of their Eau Claire, Wisconsin, home, and when one of them spots an article on a can't-miss destination, he tears it out and pins it up. "There are a few bigger trips we want to take, like a trip to see redwood trees in California," explains mom Toni. "But most of the ideas are afternoon excursions: a zip line tour, a visit to a pumpkin patch, or a hike to a waterfall."

 

• Seasonal Must-Dos: Every few months, the Carter kids -- Emily, age 11, Jasper, 8, and Natalie, 5 -- sit down with their mom, Amy, and brain- storm a list of the activities they love. Spring items, for example, might include planting flowers, going on a scavenger hunt, and exploring five unfamiliar parks. The Franklin, Indiana, family then checks off the activities as they do them. "I tend to get wrapped up in the necessities of life," Amy explains. "The lists make sure we plan some fun every week."

 

• Letting Chance Decide: The Sanders family of Elk Grove, California, works together to fill three grab bags with spur-of-the-moment outing ideas written on index cards. The simplest activities, such as a picnic in the park, go in one bag; more time-consuming or costly ones, such as a museum visit, go in another; and the most involved activities, such as a trip to an amusement park, go in a third. When they have free time and funds, the family draws a card from the right bag. There's only one rule, explains mom Barbara: "Whatever that card says, we do."

2. They turn their home into fun zones.

You don't have to attach a slide to your stairway (though one of our readers did!), but making room for games, creativity, and plain old hanging out can make a house a home.

• Graffiti Artists: Without handing your kids spray paint, you can still give them freedom to color their world. For Kelly Maver, this means keeping a jar of dry- erase markers on the kitchen window seat so that her daughters can use them on the windows: "My 9-year-old practices her spelling and makes murals for every season, and my 2-year-old pretends to write words," explains the Hewitt, New Jersey, mom, before assuring us, "It wipes right off!"

 

• DIY Turf: The Axlers of Madison, New Jersey, give "home team" a whole new meaning by making a sports arena of their basement. Bases and a home plate, yard lines, or goals (depending on the season) are marked on the green carpet with masking tape. Jordan, age 7, and Becca, 4, then get their game on with Wiffle bats or soft plastic balls. Meanwhile, in Dover, Ohio, the Warther family mows part of their lawn extra-close to make a golf green: "We line holes with sunken soup cans and add bike- flag markers. The kids and their friends love to practice their chipping and putting."

 

• Creating a Kid Cave: Kids and hidey-holes are a match made in heaven. That's what Carolyn Halliburton in Plano, Texas, got to thinking. Sure, she could use the storage space, but an under-stair closet in her home practically begged to be a hideout. The family took out some shelves, painted the walls blue and silver (they're Dallas Cowboys fans), and hung up dry-erase boards. "We also hung a curtain in the entrance to make it more secret," says Carolyn. Sons Taylor, age 10, and Andrew, 8, love to read, play, and draw in there -- and hide out with friends, of course.

3. They celebrate the little things.

Life's too short to save all the fun for birthdays and big holidays, say these families, so they look for excuses to add a dose of silliness to otherwise ordinary weeks. The reason isn't important; what matters is reveling in togetherness.

• Feting the Everyday (And the Off-the-Wall) : Heather Crosby of Parker, Colorado, observes what she calls "odd holidays" with her 8-year-old and her 6-year-old twins. "I'll slip pieces of white chocolate into their lunches on National White Chocolate Day, and we've played Monopoly on Play Monopoly Day. My kids were not too fond of National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, though!" The Thomas family of Willard, North Carolina, turns wacky holidays into themed dinners, complete with props and costumes. They celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, Fairy Day, and the family favorite, Cave Night. "We all dress like cavemen, and we serve dinosaur bones, aka ribs." (Tip: For a list of these special days, do a web search for "Everyday Holidays.")

 

• Keeping It in the Family: The Smiths of Poway, California, love to entertain ... themselves. "Every couple of months, we like to host little parties where we are the only guests," explains mom Joannie. The three kids, ages 9, 13, and 17, help pick an event -- the Super Bowl, the Oscars, or simply the release of a much-anticipated DVD -- then they decide on the food (fun appetizers are a favorite) and deck themselves out in festive clothing. "We get to spend good, quality time with each other," Joannie says, "and celebrate us as a family."

4. They narrow the gap between playing and learning.

How do you expand children's minds? By increasing the fun! These families do that by making time for curiosity and exploration.

• Family Book Club: The Delgados of Edcouch, Texas, love to read. The family chooses a book together, reads a chapter aloud during the day, and discusses it over dinner. To make their book club even more rewarding, they give themselves a treat (a movie, say, or an ice- cream outing) when they finish a book. Recently, they've read the Harry Potter series (a favorite), The Hunger Games, and mom Laura's choice, Little Women.

 

• Alphabet Party: At the Pincock family's weekly alphabet-themed celebrations, p is for party. Also, pink clothes, pizza and pears for lunch, Peter Pan and popcorn, and playing in the playroom. Every letter gets its own occasion to shine. "The parties kept my preschooler happy and busy during the long winter months," explains Canton, Michigan, mom Amy. "We made it through all 26 letters by the time spring came!"

 

• Messy Exploration: Allison Beard of Brighton, Colorado, believes that giving kids the freedom to make a mess also gives them license to learn. That's why she helps her son, 5-year-old Griffin, get up to some crazy concocting at a backyard science lab in fair weather. When conditions are less favorable, the dining table, covered with a shower curtain, stands in. "We set him up with a variety of nontoxic things he can mix together to see what happens," Allison explains. Ingredients include sugar, salt, cornstarch, baking soda, vinegar, water, and food coloring. Ice-cube trays or muffin tins are perfect for mixing, and craft sticks for stirring. A lab coat (and an evil-scientist laugh) completes the scene.

5. They fill their lives with sweet surprises

Kids thrive on routines, but it's often the unexpected joys that they truly treasure. These parents know how to catch their gang happily off guard -- and make the kinds of memories that last forever.

• Keeping Them Guessing: The weekend-afternoon Mystery Trips started when Nikki Price was a girl and her mother would put the kids in the car without telling them where they were going. Now she carries on the tradition with her children, Zachary, age 8, and Rachel, 4, in Plainfield, Illinois. "We'll tell them how they need to dress and if they need to bring anything, but that's it," says Nikki. "The anticipation is a lot of fun, and my husband and I get a kick out of their guesses." A park? The zoo? It's a mystery -- at least until they get there.

 

• Breaking the Rules: When it's lights out, it's time to sleep, right? Not if you're the three McKee kids in Katy, Texas. "I get everyone to bed like normal," their mom, Mandy, explains, "then, about ten minutes later, I blast music throughout the house! Everyone gets up, and we go get ice cream with the kids in their pj's. They expect it every summer, but they never know exactly when it's coming."

 

• Surprising Others: Wacky stuff is plenty fun at home, but foisting it on an unsuspecting public really ups the ante. For example, Wave Day. You don't know about Wave Day? Oh, right, that's because the Johnson family of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, made it up. On Wave Day, mom Rebecca, Gwyneth, age 14, and Jessica, 10, wave to every single person they can. "It's amazing to my girls that such a simple act can make a person's day."

6. They find the silver lining.

Fun is really a state of mind, as these look-on-the-bright-side families remind us. With a little creative thinking, they banish disappointment and turn it into delight.

• A Can-Do Attitude: When a storm kept the Barbee family from the state fair, they decided to bring the fair to them. "I gave everyone an hour to make something to submit as an entry to the Family Fair," says Sonnet, an Idaho Falls, Idaho, mother of four. "We had artwork, a coin collection, homemade cookies, and a flower arrangement, and I awarded prizes to everyone." They competed in a trampoline-trick rodeo and a watermelon-eating contest. "The kids had so much fun that we forgot that we missed out on the real state fair."

 

• Let Them Eat Cake (or Pie): When kids get the blues, distraction can be the best remedy. While her husband is away on business, Celi Back mixes it up so that the six kids, ages 9 months to 12, don't miss him as much. They camp out in the yard, make a construction paper "Welcome Home" sign, and, naturally, eat pie for dinner. "Once, we had spaghetti pie, then chocolate pie for dessert, and we ate it all on the floor, picnic-style," says the Tempe, Arizona, mom.

7. They make work feel like play.

These families skip the nagging and tackle household chores with a party spirit. It's got to get done, so it might as well be fun.

• Sorting It Out: "Laundry party!" It's not your usual call to merrymaking, but that's what Janet Mongilio yells to her family when there's clean wash to be sorted in their Parkersburg, West Virginia, home. "All four of us run to the bedroom, dump the baskets of clothes on the bed, and start sorting them -- and throwing them at each other." (Picture a washday version of a food fight.) Chaos! Mayhem! And, in the end, a neat pile of folded clothes for everyone.

 

• Harnessing the Competitive Spirit: When it comes to doing boring tasks, the Button family of Fayetteville, Arkansas, finds that a beat-the-clock contest gets everybody motivated. (Could that be because they've got two boys, ages 9 and 12, in the house?) "We set the timer, and we attempt, as a family, to beat our own time unloading the dishwasher, getting the trash out, or doing any one chore together," explains mom Kristi. The catch: "The dishes have to get put away in the right place and unbroken."

 

• Hunting for a Clean Room: To bolster her kids' enthusiasm for tidying up, Carol Vargas of Kennesaw, Georgia, turns it into a rousing scavenger hunt. She hides clues (drawings or objects in small ziplock bags) in the clutter for her cleaning kids to find. The hints help the kids figure out their reward for completing the task. "It could be something as simple as a special lunch of fave foods, a chance to pick a toy out of our prize box, or a visit to the local park."

Originally published in the March 2013 issue of FamilyFun magazine

Have some fun with the Family - Make a Tres Leches cake (3 milks)

Personal Development needs to be fun as well as educational, bring the family closer by making a mess in the kitchen or baking a cake for someone special.

Try this cake, its easy to make and you can get the kids involved!

THINK AND GROW RICH BY NAPOLEON HILL ANIMATED BOOK REVIEW

5 More Things Successful People Do Before 8 AM

Rise and shine… again! My recent article 5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 AM explored five things successful people do in the morning – exercise, plan their day, eat a healthy breakfast, visualize, and complete their most dreaded tasks first. But what else do early risers do that makes them so successful? Here are five more things that will help you be the best that you can be from the second you open your eyes. 

1. Avoid The Snooze. 
Most mornings we’d do anything to get an extra 5 minutes of sleep in the morning. Or 10. Or 15. The snooze button may feel like your best friend, but beware. Snoozing often leads to a rushed morning routine. First you’re sacrificing ironing your shirt to get some more shut-eye, then your breakfast, then your shower. It’s a slippery slope that leads to a disgruntled and flustered start to your work day. Instead of snoozing indefinitely, train yourself to get up right when your alarm goes off. If you have a hard time waking up, set your alarm 10 minutes earlier than usual, and spend that time waking up over a cup of coffee in the kitchen or on your porch. Snoozing may feeling great in the moment, but the sooner you’re up and at ‘em, the more time you have to relax into your day.

(Photo credit: John Christian Fjellestad)

2. Get Your Daily Dose of News. 
Whether via paper, internet, TV, or radio, the morning is an excellent time to catch up on current events. Even if you merely skim a few articles over your bowl of oatmeal, it’s important to get your news in before your work tasks and errands suck up your extra time. Disney CEO Bob Iger gets up at 4:30 AM to read the paper. General Electric GE +0.29% CEO Jeff Immelt gets up at 5:30 to watch CNBC. Use your morning time to stay up-to-date and informed.

3. Clean Your Workspace. 
At the end of the work day, the last thing you want to do is straighten up. This often means sitting down to a cluttered, dirty desk come 8 AM the next morning. Before starting in on your emails, take a minute to clear your space (and your mind). Throw out old papers, throw away yesterday’s lunch wrappers, file documents you don’t need right away. Keep only the necessities on your desk, and keep them as orderly as possible. A clean desk will help you to focus better and see your tasks more clearly. It will also make you look more put together and professional. After all, it’s your workplace, not your bedroom.

4. Shower. 

While it may seem fairly straight forward, showering in the morning is key to a productive day. Yes, a nice hot shower can relax you before hitting the hay, but a morning time shower can have several benefits. For starters, a shower is the perfect way to wake yourself quickly. Instead of floundering about rubbing your eyes, a shower can energize you instantly so that you have more pre-work time for other things. Washing in the morning can help you at work, as well. Being freshly groomed helps you to feel prepared and ready for the day, and allows you to focus more easily on tasks at hand. Oh, and it might even impress your boss.

 5. Practice Gratitude. 

Waking up can be a particularly negative time for some. It’s easy to dwell on your tiredness or the busy day ahead of you. Instead of starting out your day on a pessimistic note, try practicing gratitude first thing after opening your eyes. The quietness and peacefulness of the morning lend themselves well to this activity. Take a minute to list five things you are grateful for. It can be little things like a sunny day, or something bigger like the love of your partner or children. While you get ready for your day, reflect on the things on your list. It will boost your mood, while allowing you to think about something besides your to-do list.

RICH DAD POOR DAD BY ROBERT KIYOSAKI ANIMATED BOOK REVIEW

5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 AM

Rise and shine!

 Picture Source

Morning time just became your new best friend. Love it or hate it, utilizing the morning hours before work may be the key to a successful and healthy lifestyle. That’s right, early rising is a common trait found in many CEOs, government officials, and other influential people. Margaret Thatcher was up every day at 5 a.m.; Frank Lloyd Wright at 4 am and Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney wakes at 4:30am just to name a few. I know what you’re thinking – you do your best work at night. Not so fast. According to Inc. Magazine, morning people have been found to be more proactive and more productive. In addition, the health benefits for those with a life before work go on and on. Let’s explore 5 of the things successful people do before 8 am.

1. Exercise. 
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. Most people that work out daily, work out in the morning. Whether it’s a morning yoga session or a trip to the gym, exercising before work gives you a boost of energy for the day and that deserved sense of accomplishment. Anyone can tackle a pile of paperwork after 200 ab reps! Morning workouts also eliminate the possibility of flaking out on your cardio after a long day at work. Even if you aren’t bright eyed and bushy tailed at the thought of a 5 am jog, try waking up 15 minutes early for a quick bedside set of pushups or stretching. It’ll help wake up your body, and prep you for your day.

2. Map Out Your Day. 
Maximize your potential by mapping out your schedule for the day, as well as your goals and to dos. The morning is a good time for this as it is often one of the only quiet times a person gets throughout the day. The early hours foster easier reflection that helps when prioritizing your activities. They also allow for uninterrupted problem solving when trying to fit everything into your timetable. While scheduling, don’t forget about your mental health. Plan a 10 minute break after that stressful meeting for a quick walk around the block or a moment of meditation at your desk. Trying to eat healthy? Schedule a small window in the evening to pack a few nutritious snacks to bring to work the next day.

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3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. 
We all know that rush out the door with a cup of coffee and an empty stomach feeling. You sit down at your desk, and you’re already wondering how early that taco truck sets up camp outside your office. No good. Take that extra time in the morning to fuel your body for the tasks ahead of it. It will help keep your mind on what’s at hand and not your growling stomach. Not only is breakfast good for your physical health, it is also a good time to connect socially. Even five minutes of talking with your kids or spouse while eating a quick bowl of oatmeal can boost your spirits before heading out the door.

4. Visualization. These days we talk about our physical health ad nauseam, but sometimes our mental health gets overlooked. The morning is the perfect time to spend some quiet time inside your mind meditating or visualizing. Take a moment to visualize your day ahead of you, focusing on the successes you will have. Even just a minute of visualization and positive thinking can help improve your mood and outlook on your work load for the day.

5. Make Your Day Top Heavy. 
We all have that one item on our to do list that we dread. It looms over you all day (or week) until you finally suck it up and do it after much procrastination. Here’s an easy tip to save yourself the stress – do that least desirable task on your list first. Instead of anticipating the unpleasantness of it from first coffee through your lunch break, get it out of the way. The morning is the time when you are (generally) more well rested and your energy level is up. Therefore, you are more well equipped to handle more difficult projects. And look at it this way, your day will get progressively easier, not the other way around. By the time your work day is ending, you’re winding down with easier to dos and heading into your free time more relaxed. Success!
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5 Proven Methods For Gaining Self Discipline

There are many important qualities that can contribute to a person’s achievements and happiness, but there is only one that begets sustainable, long-term success in all aspects of life: self discipline. Whether in terms of your diet, fitness, work ethic or relationships,  self discipline is the number one trait needed to accomplish goals, lead a healthy lifestyle, and ultimately, be happy.
According to a 2013 study by Wilhelm Hoffman, people with high self control are happier than those without. The study discovered this is true because the self disciplined subjects were more capable of dealing with goal conflicts. These people spent less time debating whether to indulge in behaviors detrimental to their health, and were able to make positive decisions more easily. The self disciplined did not allow their choices to be dictated by impulses or feelings. Instead, they made informed, rational decisions on a daily basis without feeling overly stressed or upset. 

(Photo credit: Moyan_Brenn DeLight)

Despite what many may think, self discipline is a learned behavior. It requires practice and repetition in your day-to-day life. To improve your own self discipline, test out these 5 proven methods for gaining better control. This regimen will help you to establish good habits, break bad ones, and improve your control by making simple changes to your everyday routine. Improved self discipline will allow you to live a freer life by helping you to make healthy choices, not emotional ones. Give it a shot. Your happiness will thank you for it.

1. Remove temptations. 
Self control is often easiest when abiding by the old saying, “out of sight, out of mind.” Removing all temptations and distractions from your environment is a crucial first step when working to improve your self discipline. If you are trying to have better control of your eating, toss the junk food. Ask your office intern to leave you off of the daily lunch order email. If you want to improve your focus while working, turn off your cell phone and remove the clutter from your desk. If you’re really having trouble, download the SelfControl app on your computer to block distraction websites – Facebook, Youtube, even e-mail – for a set period of time. Set yourself up for success by ditching the bad influences.

2. Eat regularly and healthily. 
Studies have shown that low blood sugar often weakens a person’s resolve. When you’re hungry, your ability to concentrate suffers as your brain is not functioning to its highest potential. Hunger makes it difficult to focus on the tasks at hand, not to mention making you grumpy and pessimistic. You are much more likely to have a weakened sense of self control in all areas of our life – diet, exercise, work, relationships… you name it. In order to stay on track, make sure that you are well fueled throughout the day with healthy snacks and meals every few hours. I personally make sure to always have some almonds or Muscle Milk on hand. These snacks ensure that I can get a dose of healthy protein and fats throughout the day when needed. Eating often regulates your blood sugar levels and improves your decision making skills and concentration. Allow you brain to focus on your goals and priorities instead of on your growling stomach.

3. Don’t wait for it to “feel right.” 
Improving your self discipline means changing up your normal routine, which can be uncomfortable and awkward. Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, explains that habit behaviors are traced to a part of the brain called the basal ganglia – a portion of the brain associated with emotions, patterns, and memories. Decisions, on the other hand, are made in the pre-frontal cortex, a completely different area. When a behavior becomes habit, we stop using our decision-making skills and instead function on auto-pilot. Therefore, breaking a bad habit and building a new habit not only requires us to make active decisions, it will feel wrong. Your brain will resist the change in favor of what it has been programmed to do. The solution? Embrace the wrong. Acknowledge that it will take a while for your new regime to feel right or good or natural. Keep chugging along. It will happen.

 4. Schedule breaks, treats, and rewards for yourself.

 Self discipline does not mean your new regimen needs to be entirely cold turkey, hard core, or drill sergeant-like in execution. In fact, giving yourself zero wiggle room often results in failures, disappointments, and giving into your old ways. While practicing self control, schedule specific breaks, treats, and rewards for yourself. Dieting? Designate Saturday as ice cream sundae day. Trying to lose weight? Treat yourself with a fancy massage after a month of gym trips. Working on controlling your spending? Allow yourself a $25 splurge at the mall on Sunday. (Leave the credit cards at home, and bring cash only). Self discipline can be hard. Reward your effort.

5. Forgive yourself and move forward. Instituting a new way of thinking won’t always go according to plan. You will have ups and downs, fabulous successes, and flat out failures. The key is to keep moving forward. When you have a setback, acknowledge what caused it and move on. It is easy to get wrapped up in guilt, anger, or frustration, but these emotions will not help build improve self discipline. Instead, use the hiccups in your plan as learning experiences for the future. Forgive yourself, and get back in the saddle ASAP. The longer you’re off your game, the harder it is to keep going in a positive direction.

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