One of the greatest girls we can give our children is our full attention…when we’re really listening.

As parents we don’t want our kids to keep secrets from us or to feel like they can’t tell us anything. Yet, do we really understand what we’re saying when we tell them not to hide things from us and to always be honest with us?

In order for our kids to talk to us honestly, we have to allow them time to talk and we must truly listen.

Our kids can tell when we’re not really listening and if we don’t pay attention to what they’re saying they’ll eventually stop talking to us.

Since beginning to really work on building a mother-son relationship I’ve come to realize just how important a daily chat time is to my son. In our daily chat times I’ve discovered that he is so much more like me than I previously thought. He tends to keep things to himself because he doesn’t want to burden others with things that he’s concerned about. (Just like me…)

By incorporating a one on one daily chat time with our sons we’re apt to discover their fears and desires and answer questions that they might not have asked without this personal alone time together.

I believe it is important for sons to know that they can and that they need to be willing to talk to their moms. As women we can help with questions or feelings that dad may not understand.

If you’ve never taken the time or allowed your son to talk openly and honest with you, it will likely take time for them to open up. When you do let them know that they can talk to you about anything, make sure you’re ready because you’re bound to get some really honest questions that you might not expect. So be sure to pray up before your daily chat time, you never know what questions or thoughts are headed your way.

Our sons need to know that they can trust us and that we’ll listen when they talk. We must allow them the opportunity to speak without interrupting them or shutting them down. It is our responsibility to guide and direct them, in order to know how to do so we must listen to them.

If you’re looking to find out how your son is really doing and help strengthen your mother-son relationship, then I highly suggest implementing a daily chat time for just the two of you. I know it has tremendously helped my son and I grow closer and it has enable us to have some wonderful in depth conversations covering important topics.

How do you incorporate time for chatting one on one with your son?

Today is Family Fun Friday and I’m excited to share my 6 featured posts with you!

• The post Setting Goals with an Action Plan hit home for me this week! I’m an over the top planner and function best with my goals laid out. I hope you’ll stop by and say hi to Jenny from Women with Intention.
• Gaye from Calm, Healthy, Sexy shared a great post about using essential oils to increase sensuality. I’m just getting started with essential oils myself, so I’m sure these tips will come in handy! Be sure to check out her post Essential Oils and Sensuality.
• Another great post from Jenny at Women with Intention that is full of great advice is Living in the Moment. As a mom it is hard sometimes to ensure I slow down and truly live the moments and not pass through them, this post was a great reminder for me.
• Do you allow your kids to dream big? Tara from This Sweet Life of Mine shares a wonderful post reminding how important it is for us to allow our kids to dream and to help them fulfill their dreams! You’ll want to check out her post, Help Your Tweens Dream Big.
• Fall is one of my favorite seasons and I love to have fun with my family! Anne from Learning Table shared her Fall Fun post featuring her top 10 ideas!
• You can never have enough fun fall family activity ideas! At Creative Home Keeper, Victoria shared her post, 25 Ways to Get Outside as a Family this Fall.

You’ll never run out of great ideas for family fun at Family Fun Friday!

Every week we feature the best link-ups on the web with free printables, games, activities, money-saving and organizing ideas, recipes and more. If you are looking for the best tips, links, resources, freebies and more – you’ve come to the right place! Welcome to the Family Fun Friday community.

Family Fun Friday is all about connecting as a family. We feature great ideas for family fun, and things to help moms get things done so they have more time to spend doing what they love to do – be with family! If you like Family Fun Friday, help this blog party grow by giving it a +1 on Google+. Thanks so much!

Family Fun Friday

I love my co-hosts Danita, Selena, Misty, and Herchel! Your links get five times the exposure as they will show up on five blogs at the same time. Woo-Hoo! Each co-host is featuring her top picks from the party so you get an increased chance in being featured as well. Each featured post will be pinned by the hostesses so be sure to link up your best!

Meet our Family Fun Friday hostesses:

Monica created Family Fun Friday and blogs at HappyandBlessedHome.com where she shares free preschool tools and printables, encouraging words for moms, and ideas for having fun together as a family. Follow: Blog / Facebook / Pinterest / Twitter /Google + / Bloglovin’/ Instagram. Monica will feature Family Fun Posts.
Danita enjoys blogging about cooking and shares yummy recipes on her blog OTasteandSee. Follow: Blog / Facebook / Pinterest / Twitter /Google +. Danita will feature Delicious Recipes.
Selena is a homeschooling graduate and a homeschooling mom to four super special kids. She blogs at Look! We’re Learning! about unit studies, foreign language, and homeschooling with ADHD. Follow: Blog / Facebook / Pinterest / Instagram / Twitter.
Misty is passionate about women’s ministry and encouraging the hearts of wives and moms. You can check out her inspired posts on Beautiful Ashes. Follow: Blog / Facebook / Pinterest / Twitter /Google +. Misty will feature posts to encourage women and family fun.
Herchel enjoys blogging about parenting, organizing, crafting, and having good old-fashioned kid fun her blog Scrggbug Corner. Follow: Blog / Facebook / Pinterest / Twitter /Google +. Herchel will feature organizing and family fun.

If you enjoy the features on Family Fun Friday please leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you! If you see things that you like here – please PIN them on Pinterest!

If you PIN these lists it will help this blogging party grow. To PIN a specific blogger’s post please click through and pin directly from their site.

If you’re a mom keep reading because we have some wonderful fun ideas to inspire you with your little ones and family. My blogging friends are linking up craft ideas, fun in the kitchen, preschool & homeschool ideas, and ways to spend time as a family.

My blog is growing but I need your help, please like my facebook page or PIN a button and help spread the word about HappyandBlessedHome.com. Thanks so much.

Highlights and FUN FREEBIES!

In case you missed it last week I started rolling out a new e-mail subscription service on HappyandBlessedHome.com – Mad Mimi! Now subscribers have instant all the time access to all the fun FREE printables at HappyandBlessedHome.com. Click here to learn all about our new subscriber benefits. Woo-hoo!

And for the month of September – you can still take advantage of my limited time offer for FREE Preschool Circle Time Morning Board Printables. It’s a subscriber freebie and a wonderful tool for educational enrichment. And, if you have a little one who loves Sesame Street, make sure to visit my post with FREE Sesame Street Birthday Party Decorations, you’ll want to download your copy {no subscription required for the Sesame Street printables}.

If you enjoy free printables, crafts and games for little ones, ideas for family fun and encouraging posts for moms, sign up and have Happy and Blessed Home delivered to your inbox. Simply enter your e-mail address here:

Special Thanks

Thanks to all my blogging friends for linking up last week at Family Fun Friday. I have a special YouTube Video for you at Thank You All My Blogging Friends! So many great ideas, crafts and things to do! If you link up, you permit me to use your pictures/ideas as part of future posts and/or social media. Now on to some fabulous posts for moms.

Featured Bloggers:

Homeschooling Help for All Ages

If you’re looking for some help in homeschooling, then look no further than these features! Stop by and check out Selena’s educational craft features at her blog Look We’re Learning! When you have a minute, show her a little bloggy love on Facebook.

Fun Family Activities

All families need to have fun together and these look like some great fun family activities at Herchel’s corner Sruggbugg Corner. Follow the link to Herchel’s blog and if ya’ll have a minute stop by Herchel’s Facebook Page and show her a little bloggy love. 🙂

Easy Chicken Recipes

Danita has a great set of featured Easy Chicken Recipes on her blog O Taste and See here. Discover great recipes and follow Danita by liking her Facebook page here.

Thanks again for all your wonderful ideas! I hope these Family Friendly and Fun ideas inspire you.

The Facebook party link-up has been moved to another page, located at: Like Me on Facebook Link-Up Here. It’s a great way to meet other bloggers, network and help each other grow your Facebook Page’s likes.

For Family Fun Friday we’re going to start networking using Google+ – we hope you will join us! Button Code:

If you enjoy free printables, crafts and games for little ones, ideas for family fun and encouraging posts for moms, sign up and have Happy and Blessed Home delivered to your inbox. Simply enter your e-mail address here:

I pray you are blessed by this effort to share ideas on having Family Fun.

In His Grip,

Blog / Facebook / Pinterest / Twitter /Google + / Bloglovin’

If you like my blog please like my Facebook page at: HappyAndBlessedHome – thanks so much!

I link up to a bunch of parties every week. Click on Link Parties and you can add your party or find one to visit every day of the week.

P.S. Bloggers – If you’ve been featured and would like to add a button to show off how awesome you are, just grab the code in the text box below. You’ll want to retype the quotes too if you’re having trouble getting it to show on your page. 😉

LINK your Family Friendly & Fun Ideas:

RSS Subscribers click this link to get to my blog so you can see all the great ideas. Here is the link list, please add yours below. Thanks for linking up! Linkers will be added to the e-mail reminder I send for this party. Thank you. If you are having trouble linking, please leave your link in the comments section and I will manually add it. Thanks!

I’ve also joined up with a few other bloggers to host a Pin for a Pin on Pinterest Party. If you have a back to school post that you would like to have repinned five times, hop on over and share your link! Pin for a Pin on Pinterest Month Long Link Party.

We’d like to help everyone grow their presence on Google+. Leave your link so we can all get connected!

Love me on Google+ Page LINK PARTY starts here (rolling list – you do not need to add to it every week):