133. Our Best Strategies for Raising "Twins"

A few years ago, we went through a season with a lot of evening activities. During that season, we decided to switch from family dinners to family breakfasts.

We would all eat a hot breakfast (usually eggs and bacon, maybe toast or pancakes, too) and spend some time reading the Bible and talking together. We were homeschooling at the time and didn't have any specific time we needed to get out the door in the mornings, so it worked so well for our family.

Recently, we've had a lot going on in the evenings and we were noticing that we weren't getting to have family dinners very regularly. We called a family meeting and asked for people to give their ideas on what we could do to have more time together around the table.

(Tip: want to come up with creative solutions for your family? Call a family meeting and let everyone weigh in and then come to an agreement on what might work. Your kids are much more likely to want to go along with the plan if they helped create it in the first place!)

After our family meeting, we all decided together to go back to having family breakfasts again. Jesse and Kaitlynn need to be out the door to ice-skating by 8 a.m., so we decided to have family breakfasts at 7:30 a.m. I've been prepping a hot breakfast at 6:45 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. -- so far, I've done things like Breakfast casserole, Baked Oatmeal, toast and scrambled eggs, French Toast, Waffles and Bacon, and even cold cereal (on particularly full days).

It's been such a great start to our day again. And, we've realized that it's had a trickle down affect into other areas -- our days feel more organized and it feels like we have a lot more breathing room in them... just from the simple practice of how we are starting our mornings.

In this week's episode of The Crystal Paine Show, we share more details on how family breakfasts work right now, how it's made a difference in our entire day, two books I've been listening to, how to get the pit out of an avocado, a new job for one of our girls, listener mail, Hoopla, and more!

Sponsor Spotlight:

This week’s episode is sponsored by Annie’s — a company I’ve loved for a long time! Annie’s has the perfect subscription boxes for both boys and girls that will keep them, creative, constructive, and engaged this summer!

This week’s spotlight is Annie’s Young Woodworker's Club — a monthly subscription that sends kids real hammer-and-nails construction kits. They even include real tools starting with a kid-sized hammer. Each kit has pre-cut and pre-drilled wood, so your kids can build complete kits with minimal supervision and be proud of every project.

Annie’s is offering 75% off your first month of their Young Woodworker's Club when you go here and use coupon code CRYSTAL at checkout. This is a fantastic deal!

In This Episode:

[1:15] – An easy way to get the pit out of an avocado!

[3:50] – Kaitlynn just got a job, so we now have two high schoolers who have jobs!

[5:43] – I have been listening to The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer.

[7:38] – The Warsaw Orphan is the second book that I have listened to on Hoopla, which I have been using lately.

[8:57] – I share my thoughts on how The Woman with the Blue Star ends.

[11:40] – Listener mail: feedback, tips, and a question on Airbnb.

[15:10] - Today's sponsor is the Young Woodworker's Club.

[17:48] – We dive into talking about family breakfast!

[19:40] – We were going to suggest family meetings to our kids before putting them into place, but they had the same idea!

[21:24] – Our mornings have been so much more productive and structured.

[22:32] – Hear my advice on what you can do if there is something in your home that isn't working.

Links and Resources:

• Kelly Rimmer – The Warsaw Orphan: A WWII Novel
• Kelly Rimmer – The Things We Cannot...