I hope you find a partner with who are your most authentic self, and who you love for who they genuinely are.


15, 21



Read Big Magic by Liz Gilbert. Re-read every 5-10 years.


19, 21



We don’t always get what we want. Sometimes we have to wait. Sometimes we go without it. Sometimes when we DO get what we wanted it looks different than how we imagined it would. AND IT’S OK. We’re ok. The world keeps turning! That’s a huge lesson and a valuable one. Practice “pushing the snooze button” on wants. Enlist their help. “I understand you want ____. Would this be something you could snooze or do without?”


5, 10, 20



Music, arts, words or dancing can have a profound effect on the spirit. Let's find something that gives you chills!


11-14



Be teachable. If you walk around thinking you know it all, your career and relationships will suffer. Consider how much you have to learn and welcome any opportunity to learn. “Teach me” instead of “I don’t know.”


16



Celebration and acknowledgment: Make a big deal over little-big things and teach them the same: getting their braces off, or a cast on a broken bone, a friend gets a new car, etc. Always acknowledge the sad that someone is going through or the difficult situation. Applies to all ages.


12, 15, 19, 21



Check in on your friends. Even the ones that seem fine.


14-21



Explain what “On my honor” means.


8



Watch “The Sandlot” together. Great story about friendship and showing up for each other.


8



Rent kayaks.


14-16



If you can’t afford to tip the server, you can’t afford to be there.


15



Small joys are what gets you through big grief.


14, 18, 21



It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. ____ In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. ____ If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.” — Haim G. Ginott, Teacher and Child: A Book for Parents and Teachers (Re-ticket this every year.)


6



There’s a lot of virtue to the “Let them” theory of parenting. It’s their life. Drop out of school? Not what I would want, but as long as I’ve had my say, the decision is theirs to make. The mess will be theirs too, but that’s just life. Stop trying to control everyone and everything. Give yourself and everyone else a break and as long as it’s nothing harmful, let them. Don’t try to bend them to your will, and keep your opinions to yourself.


12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18



Practice "shaking off the sleepy." It's hard to wake up when your body is screaming for more sleep. If you practice, you'll get better. Get up, get in the shower and shake off the sleepy. It works!


6, 7, 13-15



Are they (we) getting enough quiet?


8, 12-14



Be ready to learn from around you. Curiosity = adventure. And when you’re curious, there’s no room for judgment.


17



Don’t ask for anything until you’ve done what has been asked of you.


5



We can disagree with people and still be respectful of them. (When what they espouse is something that hurts people, that’s where you can draw the line.)


16



Someone I admire is __________. Talk about someone you admire and why. Ask them to do the same. Do this often as you can. Reticket through age 18.


4



Follow your dreams…not your boyfriend’s.


16



You think you’re smart now but just wait. Your brain is just getting warmed up. Feed it: books, travel, music, mushrooms.


14, 17, 21



General rule for health and happiness: avoid excess.


10, 14, 17, 21



Doing something you don’t want to do just to look cool is the opposite of cool.


9, 11, 14, 15, 19, 21



“You will use up everything you got trying to give people what they want.” —- Nina Simone


17



“The Greatest Generation” by Tom Brokaw Listen to audio or read together


14



Men worry about getting laughed at or rejected by a woman. Women worry about getting killed when they reject a man. Let that sink in.


15, 21



Consent is more than the literal


13, 14, 15, 16, 21



Talk about how to speak up for themselves and others.


1Infant-12, 16, 21