Summary: About Shelly<br> I am a wife and a SAHM to two boys. I have a master's in education with a principal's certificate. I taught elementary school for 15 years with some admin positions along the way. I loved professional development, and I always had way more hours than was required, not to mention all the reading I did and gurus I followed on social media. I always tried to put best practices in place in my classroom.<br> <br> When I found out I was pregnant, I immediately turned that energy into research about pregnancy, childbirth, later on, infants, toddlers, then preschoolers and I have not stopped. I research every question I have about my children, and then some.<br> <br> I hope that all of the time that I have put into research can go beyond benefitting my children. I want it to benefit my followers by helping them to make informed parenting and family decisions. The purpose of my blog is all things parenting professional development, This -N- That Parenting<br> <br> <br> From This Episode<br> This Post Contains Affiliate Links<br> Being able to have fun creates a lightness to our family culture that makes everyone want to be together! Having fun (for fun's sake and not at the expense of someone else) creates a resilience in the family because having a sense of humor, and making home a place where you can have fun makes it all worthwhile! When we are having fun at home, we aren't looking for it in other places. When we create a space for fun in our family, you may naturally fall into rhythms and habits that work for your family and allow you to thrive, even without thinking about it too hard! Still, sometimes we need to intentionally create that space when it doesn't come naturally, or other things creep in and take away our attention from doing fun things together.<br> <br> Some things we like to do for fun is have tickle fights, play board games, go on fun field trips or day trips as a family, spontaneously drop in to get ice cream, donuts, or fro-yo, call grandparents and tell a funny joke, watch a fun show when it is not our usual media time (cause we kind of regulate that in our house), make cookies together, go to a park and play tag. There are so many ways that we can have fun, and make fun a part of our daily rituals. I like how Shelly talked about the book about why the author didn't rebel, is because the fun was at their house! When I was a teenager, my house was the one where all our friends liked to come. We would play fun party games, and have yummy food on hand, and watch movies, and we kept it all clean! I loved that about my family culture growing up. That's totally the kind of home I want to have, too: a place where my kids and their friends want to be because they know mom and dad like to have fun!<br> <br> There is an element of grace when you are having fun. It's like you can have a sense of humor about life in general and that brings light and peace to the home. Both grace and humor, really, take humility. Being a humble parent opens us up for guidance and the ability to cope with anything that comes our way!<br> <br> Books and other resources discussed:<br> Why I Didn't Rebel: A Twenty-Two-Year-Old Explains Why She Stayed on the Straight and Narrow---and How Your Kids Can Too by Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach <br> AhaParenting.com with Dr. Laura Markham<br> <br> Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting by Dr. Laura Markham<br> <br> Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Tripp<br> <br> <br> <br> Connect with Shelly<br> <br> Blog: http://www.thisnthatparenting.com<br> <br> Instagram and Twitter: @TNTParenting<br> <br> Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thisnthatparenting/<br> <br> <br> <br> Start your own blog. Sign up for web hosting at Sitground.
