When I was growing up, one of my most favorite things was family game night. We would all sit down around our kitchen table, fill up our ice cream float cups and play a mean game of Hearts.

Even back then, when life wasn’t near as hectic as it is now, it seemed to draw us back together as a family. So of course, as we started raising our children, my husband and I decided we wanted to have this special family time too.

The problem we soon found was how to find games that everyone could play. With an age span of 7 years, our 15 year old was not so keen in playing Go Fish all the time, nor could our 8 year old play Risk. How do we solve this dilemma?

Some Great Answers

You knew I had some answers, right? First off, a game we were introduced to this summer on our family vacation was a fun family game called
Mexican Train Dominos. It was fun, several people could play at one time (which is good in a family of 7) and the dominos rules were easy to learn and follow. One note – the rules that came with our game were different than how we learned how to play. Our rules are in the next post.

Apples to Apples (which does come in a Junior version) is fun and easy for everyone to play because the winning card is subjective to the judge’s opinion – read no right or wrong answer here.

Blokus is a great colored tile game that is easy for everyone to play. The cool thing about this game is that no matter your age it really works to exercise your critical thinking skills. It is fun to watch how smart your kiddos really are!

These are great Christmas gift ideas and birthday present ideas because they are inexpensive and they don’t involve technology. Which means more time to talk and laugh together! What good Christmas gifts!

 As you browse around this site, we hope you’ll find some effective parenting skills that will work for your family. As far as our family goes, we believe  The Total Transformation Program is the one tool that’s had the biggest impact on our household, but you need to find out for yourself. Click here to try it free for 30 days, and if you decide to keep it only then will you  have to pay for it.

Mexican Train Dominos is a great game that we’ve recently been introduced to, but we found the rules in the game we bought to be a little confusing.

These are the Mexican Train Domino rules we learned to play that seems to best suit our younger kiddos.

The dominos themselves are different than regular dominos because they go up to double 12’s. One cool thing is that if counting dots is hard for your little ones, you can buy these dominos that have numbers instead of dots. The game go basically like this – each person takes a number of tiles based on how many are playing. Then starting with the double 12 tile (or the closest double someone has in their pile) it is placed in the middle. Every round goes down 1 number. Everyone then must start their leg (think spider here) with the same number that was the double. If you don’t have that number on your tiles, you pick one from the bone pile. If you can play you do, if not the next person plays. You then only play on your leg until 1 of 2 things happen.

1st – If someone, who has their leg going, cannot play a domino on their leg after they pick from the bone pile, you can play on their leg. They place a plastic train (that comes with most domino sets) on their leg so everyone knows it is open to play on. As an added treat – we use M&M’s instead of train. Then when the person whose leg is open can play on it again, they can chose to remove the train (or eat the M&M!) to close it off from other players.

2nd – You can start a Mexican train. You do this by using a tile that has the same number as the doubles you started with and starting a leg separate from the main game. Only one person can start a train per round but anyone can play on it at anytime.

A few nuances – if you play a doubles tile during the round (like 3’s), the doubles tile must be “satisfied” before regular play can continue. How this is accomplished is that either the person who plays the doubles tile must play another tile with the same number or it goes around the table for each person’s turn until someone can satisfy it. You must draw if you can’t play. You can however play the drawn tile if it matches. This can mess up the best laid plans! Also, it is not uncommon for someone to get stuck for the whole round without getting their leg started. The upside here is if you play rounds down to double 1’s, this evens out.

The winner of the round is the one who gets rid of all his tiles first. Everyone else has to add up all their dots (only area little ones may need help) on all their tiles. This is their score for that round. Winner of the game is the person with the lowest score.

Mexican Train Dominos. Easy dominos rules and a fun family game! Great for family Christmas gifts!

As you browse around this site, we hope you’ll find some effective parenting skills that will work for your family. As far as our family goes, we believe  The Total Transformation Program is the one tool that’s had the biggest impact on our household, but you need to find out for yourself. Click here to try it free for 30 days, and if you decide to keep it only then will you  have to pay for it.

Matt & I decided to get into a program titled “Family Strengthening” provided by Washington State University (go Cougs!). Its focus is for kids age 10-14 and their parents. Since we have 3 (and one in crisis) in that age group, any help we could get we are taking. And the free part was added incentive.

We were skeptical on whether there would be anything we could use in our unique family. And our teens were less enthusiastic than that, to say the least! However, the very first week we learned something that has changed how we view our teens’ actions. Their brains are going through the same transition as it did when they were 2 years old – so we weren’t being mean when we said “you are acting just like a 2 year old”!

Let me see if I can explain. The parts of the brain that are developing , the generative part, interacts with the emotions and quickly overwhelms the frontal lobes – which possess  thoughtful, rational and conscience driven restraints  on behavior. The twist on all this is that the frontal lobes do not fully mature until early 20s. So guess what? Parents have no other option but to be their teens’ frontal lobes for a time. Whether you or your teens like it or not.

The good news is that this (as is all parenting) IS a gradual letting go as they and their brains mature. With most kiddos, this will be a learning from their mistakes experience. For my girl, it will involve that and learning skills that will help her stay safe because that development is hopefully only delayed. We have seen some progress with these skills, like calling us when she feels in over her head and can’t see a way out. We parents, the frontal lobes, will provide one.

So on we march on in this journey. With a few more tools in our bag.

As you browse around this site, we hope you’ll find some effective parenting skills that will work for your family. As far as our family goes, we believe  The Total Transformation Program is the one tool that’s had the biggest impact on our household, but you need to find out for yourself. Click here to try it free. For a limited time, you just order it and complete and return the enclosed Feedback Survey.

You might be wondering if I’m making money by promoting this program, and the answer is yes! If you buy it after visiting my website, I will earn a commission.  The truth is, I tried it and liked it so much, that I decided it would be something I would feel proud to support and promote, and as a bonus, I get a commission if you buy it.

When I last posted, we were asking some questions (re: house rules, etc) that we felt we needed answered right away. Wrong! Those answers will come, but not before we get a whole lot of other questions out of the way.

Our new daily schedule

Life does not stop when you have a crisis situation in your home. Meals need to be planned and made, shopping needs to be done, house needs to be kept up, other kids need to be paid attention to. Many nights I have gone to bed exhausted, but unable to sleep. I wake up early and face the dawn telling myself “God has given me everything I need to face this day”. And He has and I do, usually.

Other Questions?

School was looming. And teenager activities were beckoning. We did need to decide how much leeway to give her based on the little we knew. I kept getting clues though. She tries to act like a teenager, but I see, several times a day, her real self – for lack of better words. She reminded me of my 10 year olds. Based on how we got to this hard place, bad teenage choices, we decided that she might not have the mental capability to make choices of more than a 10 year old. We opted to go from that standpoint. We only give her the freedom we would give a 10 year old. She has settled right down and seems to feel safe most of the time. No struggles whatsoever against the rules that apply for that age. Thank goodness.

So what about School?

We did not feel home schooling was a good option (due to some logistics in our neighborhood and activities she was already involved in at school). We cannot afford private schooling, but rode the fence almost up to the week before school before we decided. Then a good friend of mine told us she had just gotten a job transfer to my daughter’s school and we felt based on this and other relationships already established there with adults, she would be cared for. We sent her back. That too seems to be going well.

One Other thing…

We knew that staying busy would help her right now, not overwhelming but doing what she loves. Her self esteem is very low and she is depressed. So we set her back up in horseback riding (for free from a great family who has a heart for kiddos like her) and continued on with Taekwondo. She seems more content. We have also started some counseling with the local mental health clinic. And are continuing on the road to determine what (other than the obvious) may be causing these delays.

Plus, with school, I get a break now during the day and am sleeping better without the continuous stress for 15 hours a day. My husband notices my face seems more relaxed. I hope my attitude is too.

As you browse around this site, we hope you’ll find some effective parenting skills that will work for your family. As far as our family goes, we believe  The Total Transformation Program is the one tool that’s had the biggest impact on our household, but you need to find out for yourself. Click here to get it free. Just order and complete and return the enclosed Feedback survey.

You might be wondering if I’m making money by promoting this program, and the answer is yes! If you buy it after visiting my website, I will earn a commission.  The truth is, I tried it and liked it so much, that I decided it would be something I would feel proud to support and promote, and as a bonus, I get a commission if you buy it.

We are now in week 3 of life with a teenager in crisis. We are in the middle of trying to figure out if there is more going on her than bad teenager choices. You see with adopted kids (who come out of the foster system) there is sadly damage. I first believed as we started taking care of these kiddos that love and prayer can make everything all better!

And Now?

Now I believe love and prayer are the only way we can get through this life, but don’t necessarily make it better. So we are trying to piece together a very spotty adoption file to see what may have happened prenatally. We know a few things post-birth since that is what put her into the foster system. And those things in and of themselves are manifesting their ugly symptoms. And there seems to be more.

Where to Start Looking for Answers

In the last week, we have gone to a great Christian crisis center where my best friend is director. The medical staff is helping us sort through the above questions (they actually pointed us in that direction in the first place) and one of their counselors has taken my daughter under her wing. The question I am trying to get answered is…

Do the Answers Change the Method of Parenting?

We have house rules. We make them tangible rules that are verifiable with consequences that apply. But what if she doesn’t have the mental ability to get these rules? Does this mean our daughter is in danger and we just say “you can’t do that”? Or do we continue on the same path? Questions we want answered so we can parent this child into a responsible and successful young adult.

As you browse around this site, we hope you’ll find some effective parenting skills that will work for your family. As far as our family goes, we believe  The Total Transformation Program is the one tool that’s had the biggest impact on our household, but you need to find out for yourself. Click here to get it for free for a limited time. You just order and then complete and return the enclosed Feedback survey.

You might be wondering if I’m making money by promoting this program, and the answer is yes! If you buy it after visiting my website, I will earn a commission.  The truth is, I tried it and liked it so much, that I decided it would be something I would feel proud to support and promote, and as a bonus, I get a commission if you buy it.