two awesome sales!! to help strengthen families
when i was about ten years old, my parents started working on a new project. their book teaching your children values had become a celebrated bestseller, and they wanted to provide a fun, engaging way to help parents instill in their children the positive values outlined in the book. so, mom and dad worked with a team of really creative people to develop a series of audio stories about a boy named alexander who has some amazing learning adventures.
i vividly remember listening to these fun, funny and quite gripping stories as a kid. we would often pop in an alexander tape (yep, back in the days of cassette tapes!) on a road trip or even just while we were out and about running errands - and i genuinely loved following along on the adventures. i was a lucky kid and also was able to get some peeks into the development of the series - i remember visiting the recording studio and marveling at the different sound effect props and amazing varied voices the actors could create. i even got to act as voice myself in a "commercial break" on one of the episodes! {ten points for anyone who can guess which character is voiced by me!}
i know i am a little bit biased, but i honestly think the alexander's amazing adventures series is really, really cool. engaging storytelling is a powerful tool (so, so much better than nagging parents!) when it comes to helping kids embody important life values like honesty, courage, respect and self-discipline. it's just so fun to follow along on alex's adventures, and in our world of near-constant screen-time, it's pretty great to have a tool that not only instills goodness but encourages genuine imagination and creativity.
the alexander's amazing adventures program has upgraded over the years from cassette tapes all the way to super-easy-to-use digital files that can be played on any device. each of the twelve value stories/units has also been coupled with tips for parents (both audio and written) to help drive home the moral of the story.
and right now - until 15 march - the entire program can be purchased for only $60! click here to learn more.
my parents have been writing books about strengthening families for more than thirty years. it has been a great blessing for them to be able to make a career out of this cause that they feel so passionate about. they will never retire from this work, but they're no longer interested in making money on their books. instead, they are giving away many of their books for free and/or finding ways to provide big discounts (to pretty much sell at publishing and printing cost).
right now anyone can purchase three of their latest four books for only $30, by using the code eyrealm2016 on their publisher familius's website. my dad told me the other day that he feels that he and mom are just now writing their very best stuff (as they enter their seventies :) ). so take advantage of some serious savings and have a read (or three!).
as i prepare to become a parent, i'm feeling so grateful for my mom and dad and their truly tireless work to contribute what they've learned and tools they've discovered to help strengthen all kinds of families. so i had to share these awesome sales today!
i vividly remember listening to these fun, funny and quite gripping stories as a kid. we would often pop in an alexander tape (yep, back in the days of cassette tapes!) on a road trip or even just while we were out and about running errands - and i genuinely loved following along on the adventures. i was a lucky kid and also was able to get some peeks into the development of the series - i remember visiting the recording studio and marveling at the different sound effect props and amazing varied voices the actors could create. i even got to act as voice myself in a "commercial break" on one of the episodes! {ten points for anyone who can guess which character is voiced by me!}
i know i am a little bit biased, but i honestly think the alexander's amazing adventures series is really, really cool. engaging storytelling is a powerful tool (so, so much better than nagging parents!) when it comes to helping kids embody important life values like honesty, courage, respect and self-discipline. it's just so fun to follow along on alex's adventures, and in our world of near-constant screen-time, it's pretty great to have a tool that not only instills goodness but encourages genuine imagination and creativity.
the alexander's amazing adventures program has upgraded over the years from cassette tapes all the way to super-easy-to-use digital files that can be played on any device. each of the twelve value stories/units has also been coupled with tips for parents (both audio and written) to help drive home the moral of the story.
and right now - until 15 march - the entire program can be purchased for only $60! click here to learn more.
my parents have been writing books about strengthening families for more than thirty years. it has been a great blessing for them to be able to make a career out of this cause that they feel so passionate about. they will never retire from this work, but they're no longer interested in making money on their books. instead, they are giving away many of their books for free and/or finding ways to provide big discounts (to pretty much sell at publishing and printing cost).
right now anyone can purchase three of their latest four books for only $30, by using the code eyrealm2016 on their publisher familius's website. my dad told me the other day that he feels that he and mom are just now writing their very best stuff (as they enter their seventies :) ). so take advantage of some serious savings and have a read (or three!).
as i prepare to become a parent, i'm feeling so grateful for my mom and dad and their truly tireless work to contribute what they've learned and tools they've discovered to help strengthen all kinds of families. so i had to share these awesome sales today!
Thank you. I ordered 3 books a couple of days ago. What a great deal.
ReplyDeleteDo they value families with same sex-partners? Two Moms with kids, two Dads with kids? Mom and Dad with no kid? Single Mom with kids? Single Dad with kids? Mom, Grandma and kids (no Dad)?
ReplyDeleteIf they valued all families, UNCONDITIONALLY, without trying to fix or change them to fit your Mormon mold, I would buy their books, because you probably have some good ideas.
But I will not finance their prejudiced, one-sided view of families.
hi anonymous :)
Deletein response to your series of questions: *absolutely*!!! definitely. for sure. families of all makeups are important and can benefit from the tips and insights my parents share.
just because, from a religious standpoint, my parents (and i) consider a family that includes children with heterosexual married parents as the ideal does *not* mean they (or i) value any other type of family as less. we would never try of our own accord to *change* a family into any mold - in fact that is directly in opposition to one of the main tenets of mormonism which we revere (individual agency over decisions in life). we also of course recognize that many different circumstances determine family make-up, and we are never in a position to judge others, even if we believe god has established a general (but not mandated/mandatory) ideal for individuals and society.
while you may have a different opinion about what is ideal or important in god's plan (or lack thereof), it's not quite fair to blanketly characterize my parents' work as prejudiced. try reading one of their books and thinking about how it might apply to different types of families - it may be worded toward the ideal but it certainly isn't condemning of others!
Then why are children with same sex parents not able to be baptized into your church until they have moved out of their sinful parents' home and publicly denounced their parent's choices?
ReplyDeletethat's a loaded question that is entirely unrelated to my parents' books/work. i myself am still learning some about the reasoning behind this policy, and it's something i've chosen not to publicly comment on.
DeleteSorry, but it is NOT unrelated to the topic at hand. Your comment above said:
ReplyDelete"we would never try of our own accord to *change* a family into any mold - in fact that is directly in opposition to one of the main tenets of mormonism which we revere (individual agency over decisions in life). we also of course recognize that many different circumstances determine family make-up, and we are never in a position to judge others, even if we believe god has established a general (but not mandated/mandatory) ideal for individuals and society."
And that comment goes directly against a "mandated" policy from your church elders.
You have chosen not to comment on that policy, which is your choice. But you have also chosen to make a comment which is diametrically opposed to that policy.
I understand how hard it is to have personal values and beliefs that do not harmonize with the church you have been raised in. Been there. You obviously have lots of decisions to make about where you stand and whether you will choose to raise your child with the same homophobic views shared by your church.
anonymous: i'd love to have a conversation with you about this in person as replies to comments on a blog post have seemed to only help you make more assumptions and cast more generalizations. if you want to come out of anonymity and email me, i'd be happy to continue the conversation. i can see how this is a tricky topic and can seem contradictory to you, but i feel like words are being put into my mouth/attitudes are being blanketed on myself and my parents.
Deletei'll just say two things here:
1. a policy from the church about standards *for church members* does not necessarily lead to judgment/condemnation of society at large. that's like saying because harvard requires a 4.0 grade point average for acceptance, everyone else in the world who doesn't meet that standard is unvalued and wrong.
2. i don't actually have personal values and beliefs that do not harmonize with the church i have been raised in, and i know very clearly where i stand and what i will chose for my family in the future. my desire to understand certain issues in the context of god's plan (sometimes that takes a while!) does not necessarily mean i have a significant clash between my personal beliefs and the tenets of the faith to which i subscribe.