Gotta Love Family Podcast Mary Ann Johnson

I read an article my friend Donna Goff wrote called Trade in Your To-Do List. The article I read, resonated with me because my daily worksheet can feel overwhelming. The problem is, I rarely get each item on the list finished, even if I am running circles all day long, Donna had experienced the same thing. And no matter how much you accomplish in a day, if there are unchecked items left on your list it can leave you with a sense of not having done enough. It shouldn’t. I know better. You probably know better. Donna knows better. But occasionally it does.
Join me as I share a fun way to take a break, clear your head, and possibly make way for a systems tune-up in how you keep on top of things at home. 

Anne Murdock just retired from decades of working with special needs children. That is our big link, as I have a special needs granddaughter. We met in church and became fast friends. Although I moved, we have stayed in touch. Recently we began meeting for lunch. We each drive about 30 minutes and it has been fun.
A few months ago, we discussed a cool system Anne uses to help women stay on top of their work at home and have fewer moments of feeling like they can’t manage. It’s called Household Bingo. You check off the boxes as you finish jobs until you have a bingo. Take time to reward yourself, read a book, take a walk, listen to music, etc. Then you work for the next bingo. Eventually, you will have crossed everything off the card. Then you create a new card by asking the question, “What is most pressing right now?” Sounds interesting, doesn’t it!
It is a simple system using the principle that small things, done consistently, make big things happen.
Join me as I explain how this simple and effective system can keep you from saying, "Why am I in such a mess?"

In the next few weeks, I will be sharing some cleaning systems from friends of mine and myself. We all need help managing the 'pile' of things that need to be done so that we don't get bogged down and feel like failures. This is a very familiar feeling to most of us!
I begin with my friend Donna Goff who is a writer, teacher, mentor, and mother to a large family. Join me as we explore how she stays on time and avoids the dreaded 'neverending list.'

There are many ways to recharge and care for yourself but they aren't helpful unless you know what works for you. and did you know that what works can change and then you have to go back to the drawing board. 
Join me as I share an experience from 2011 and another from 2024 that is illuminating when it comes to understanding what works for you when you need to recharge. 
I will also share why I don't buy the idea that to recharge we have to go outside of the chaos of daily living. If that is the case, then many of us will get very little self-care. 
It doesn’t matter how you recharge. When you know what works, do it daily and the heat of the day will be less intense.

In the last two weeks, I’ve given you some information on Sparks and how to use them to connect with your children. In the article on March 10 – SPARKS - The Big Fail, I mentioned that when we learn to utilize Sparks, we can help our children love the idea of learning.
Kids have a lot to learn, and often, whether we homeschool or use public or private schools, the love of learning can get buried. We can’t prevent times when school is boring or too hard. But we can keep the desire to learn alive, as we utilize our children's Sparks.
When I was speaking and teaching, I spent many hours helping parents use their children’s Sparks. I wrote LOTS of articles on the experiences actual families had. Today’s article was written in 2012, the same year I had my big fail and many big wins.
My friend, Leah, was taking her family to Florida and wanted them to LOVE the trip and to LEARN a lot. We both knew what I wrote in the article two weeks ago - Life is about learning, and the best-lived lives happen when we continue to learn. Leah wanted this for her boys.
Join me as I share how Leah got her boys on board and how she took a Spark and turned it into a roaring fire. 

Last week I shared information about Sparks and how valuable they can be in building child-parent relationships. I also shared my big failure when it came to one of my grandsons Sparks. Let’s have a quick review.
In my book Becoming a Present Parent  I wrote that the value of seeing your child’s Sparks is that it’s a wonderful way to get Present with your child. It’s powerful not only in helping them love learning but also in creating tighter relationships. So, what is a Spark? Simply put, a Spark is anything that a child says or does that lets you know they’re interested in something right now.
Last week I shared a big Spark fail. Today I want to share a Big Spark win. When you understand Sparks and how to use them you will listen, enjoy, and bond better with your children.