My first newsletter went out on November 14, 2025.
It went to three people...
My test email was one of those three and my mother was another.
This one goes out to more than 5,800 of you.
Thank you for being here, and I genuinely hope that reading these weekly newsletters has helped you in some way.
This next year, I want to help even more parents, and go deeper with the ones already here.
So before anything else, I have a favor to ask.
THE SURVEY
Help me write year two.
For a year, I've done the talking. Now I'd like to listen.
I put together a short survey. It should only take about three minutes, and your answers decide what year two looks like.
If you only answer one question, make it number two. The moment in your week you'd most like to handle differently.
I will read every answer myself.
The rest of this issue is what I learned this year. It'll be here when you get back.
What’s Inside
THE SURVEY: Three minutes, and one question I've never asked you. (Button above.)
THE INSIGHT: I went back and read the whole year. One idea kept showing up.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK: Tell your family's year as a story.
THE INSIGHT
The most important story in the house is the one we tell ourselves.
Last week we talked about the costume, and the story a kid wears under it.
This week I went back through and read all fifty-one newsletter articles.
I expected them to be mostly about kids.
And, most of them were.
But one idea kept showing up.
When kids experience something in their lives, whether it’s an event, something small they hear, or whatever it is, they can get the facts right and walk away with a completely different meaning.
And where do they get that meaning from?
A lot of the time... from us.
They check our face first to decide how bad it is, or if it’s bad at all.
They watch how we recover more closely than the moment we lost it.
They can't hear a word we say when our own state and focus are somewhere else.
I started this newsletter to help you use the power of story with your kids.
To help you build stronger relationships with them.
To help you pass on your values, and help them through the things they're dealing with in their lives.
And after a year of thinking and writing about all of this, here's what I'd add.
The story that shapes your house the most is the one running in your head at 7:42 on a school morning, when the shoes still aren't on.
"They never listen."
"Here we go again."
"Why is this so hard for me?"
Our kids pick that story up faster than any one we tell them on purpose.
So here’s what I want year two of Story Strong Parenting to be about.
Helping you with the story you tell yourself.
Because I believe it all starts with us.
As we grow into the best version of ourselves, our kids pick up a new story. Most of the time without a word from us.
Now picture a whole generation of kids growing up with that story running in the background.
“I can handle hard things.”
“I’m the kind of person who figures it out.”
That’s the world I want to help build. One family at a time.
And that’s where I need your help.
Three people on that first Friday. More than 5,800 now. Every one of you has a story that runs in the hard moments.
Tell me yours.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
Tell your family's year as a story.
Pick a dinner, a car ride, or the last few minutes before lights out. Tell the story of your family's year, using four simple steps.
The character. Your family. Start with who you were a year ago. "Last November, you were just starting [something]."
The obstacle. One hard thing from the year. Pick something real, and something that's mostly behind you. Moving house, a tough teacher, a broken arm, a season that didn't go well.
The transformation. What changed. What did someone in the family figure out, or get through?
The moral. What it says about your family. Offer it as one possible meaning, then let them add theirs. "I think it says we're the kind of family that..." Then stop and let them finish the sentence.
How this looks changes with age.
With little kids, make them the hero of the year. They'll ask to hear it again.
From about eight to thirteen, ask them to tell the hard part. Their version might not match yours. Listen to it anyway. It tells you the meaning they kept.
With teenagers, tell your own year instead. What was hard for you, and what you figured out. Don't ask for theirs. Leave the door open and let them walk through it if they want.
Pro tip: Tell your own year to yourself first. Notice the moral you picked for you. If it's "I'm not good at this," try a different one before you say a word to your kids.
CHALLENGE
If you haven't yet, take the survey. Three minutes.
Then tell your family's year as a story, and notice the moral you pick.
