Gotta Love Family Podcast
Welcome back. If you heard , you already know that the Traveling Spark Station isn't about content — it's about being present. It's about showing a child that the person standing in front of them finds the world interesting and wants to explore it together. In Part 2, we're going to explore two areas that might surprise you: math and the arts. I say "surprise you" because math has a reputation for being dry and intimidating, and the arts sometimes get dismissed as less important than "real" subjects. The Traveling Spark Station disagrees with both of those ideas. Math is everywhere — in...
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It's spring — that season of newness, freshness, and quiet beginnings. It seemed the perfect time to share a story from Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards' book The Daffodil Principle, because it beautifully illustrates something I've come to believe deeply: that lasting change happens 1% at a time. Not in grand gestures or overnight transformations, but in small, consistent efforts that grow into something magnificent. Join me as I share portions of a story that illustrate that we make a difference and leave a legacy 1% at a time.
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When my daughter, Jodie’s, children were young, I lived two blocks away. When I was caring for them in my home, they loved . But I wanted to connect more often, so for several years I would take my Spark Station traveling to their home. I didn’t stop there. I took it to Washington and Colorado to connect with my faraway grands. I used it at events with children. I wanted a better connection with all the children in my life. It came to be called the Traveling Spark Station. This four-part series is for anyone who loves a child but doesn't live with them every day — grandparents, aunts,...
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When I developed the Spark Station, I thought I was helping parents learn to use a useful tool for connection, learning, and fun. What I spent most of my time doing was helping parents see their children differently — helping them stop seeing their children as burdens, responsibilities, or problems to be solved. My mission became helping parents adjust their sight and hearts, to see their children with new eyes. When we see differently, we behave differently. When we behave differently, we get new results. Willpower isn't what makes a home a heaven. Seeing our children as people we genuinely...
info_outlineGotta Love Family Podcast
When I developed the Spark Station, I thought I was helping parents learn to use a useful tool for connection, learning, and fun. What I spent most of my time doing was helping parents see their children differently — helping them stop seeing their children as burdens, responsibilities, or problems to be solved. My mission became helping parents adjust their sight and hearts, to see their children with new eyes. When we see differently, we behave differently. When we behave differently, we get new results. Willpower isn't what makes a home a heaven. Seeing our children as people we genuinely...
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Last week, I shared an experiment I did with real families using the Spark Station. I reiterated the five rules that make everything else work and shared real family experiences for three of those rules. Today, we will cover the last two rules. I am also going to address what to do if it isn't working for your family and how to manage the hard days. Join me as I round out all the information so you can begin to find successful family connection with this fun tool.
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I want to tell you about an experiment I did years ago. I had been talking to families about the Spark Station and quickly realized that something wasn’t clicking for a lot of them. They liked the idea, but it wasn’t working the way it should. I could see clearly that these parents were missing the vision of the real power this tool could have in their homes. So, I decided to test what I knew worked with real families — five of them, over two months. The families were wonderfully different from each other. I talked face-to-face with parents and children, and what I learned from...
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When I was in fifth grade, I learned to crochet. It wasn’t easy to learn. I had never done anything like it before. I felt all thumbs, and it wasn’t always easy to conceptualize what it was I was supposed to do. With time, I did learn, and I made a small purse. My teacher coached me through almost every row until it was done. I still have that purse. The next hurdle was learning to read actual directions. Yikes. It was like reading Greek. I had learned how to crochet, but without a teacher constantly at my elbow or being able to read the directions, I couldn’t really use my new skill. To...
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“Mom, come on. It’s almost Easter, and we need to color the eggs.” These words were spoken in a voice of desperation and a full two weeks before Easter. I love and this egg-dying ritual was one of ours. Some years went better than others, but each one brought us closer as a family. Each one tied us together in a bond that exists today. Traditions matter to children. These are the things that they can depend on: certain foods on the table at holidays, special activities done year after year, and favorite people gathered together. Let me share some Easter egg-dying tips I learned as our...
info_outlineIt's spring — that season of newness, freshness, and quiet beginnings. It seemed the perfect time to share a story from Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards' book The Daffodil Principle, because it beautifully illustrates something I've come to believe deeply: that lasting change happens 1% at a time. Not in grand gestures or overnight transformations, but in small, consistent efforts that grow into something magnificent.
Join me as I share portions of a story that illustrate that we make a difference and leave a legacy 1% at a time.