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Family Ever After: Simple Ways to Achieve Perfect Happiness in an Imperfect Family
Women frustrated with their marriage and their family will find the help they need to achieve greater happiness and success in their family in the new book, Family Ever After: Simple Ways to Achieve Extraordinary Happiness with Your Ordinary Family by stay-at-home mom, blogger, and ordinary family leader Michelle H. Packard.Family Ever After uses the fairytale concept that once you find your prince charming life is happily ever after. Michelle H. Packard knows this concept, while romantic, is not realistic, and she provides a practical, poignant, funny, and moving exploration of the simple ways you can help find greater happiness and satisfaction in your marriage and family. Packard says, “While the idea of happy ever after is distorted, you can, in fact, achieve a Family Ever After.”
Family Ever After brings time-tested and well-researched principles to family life to help you learn specific ways to improve your marriage and your family, whether that family is ordinary or extraordinary. Using real-world examples of best practices and helping woman readjust their media-driven perception of what happily ever after means, Family Ever After gives readers a pragmatic, helpful, and entertaining exploration of:
- How happiness in marriage and family life requires a more educated, real-world perspective
- How proper prioritization and defining what’s important in marriage and family is key to success;
- Why conflict is part of an ordinary family experience and how to peacefully resolve it;
- How to cultivate a sense of humor;
- How to develop a thoughtful and sincere habit of complimenting each member of your family;
- How to improve family relationships with extended family members; and
- Learning how to love a family member in the way they understand and accept that love
Excerpt
At our house, it is my husband’s job to take the trash out to the street every Tuesday morning. On rare occasions, as he is running out the door, taking the trash out slips his mind. I get so annoyed by this, and sometimes in my stubbornness, I am even tempted to let the trash rot and overflow for another week. When I realize I too will suffer from such a choice and that I am quite capable of lugging the trash to the street, I begin to question my expectations. I ask myself if it is really so important for my husband to take out the trash. I remember that he is just as busy as I am, and I am so appreciative when he helps me out. I also think to myself that once the trash is gone, I don’t have to be upset about it anymore.
On another occasion, I waited for months for my husband to build a desk for my daughter so that she would have a place to do her work. The longer I felt my request was ignored, the more upset I became. I finally let go of the expectation I had for him to build it, and I built it myself. I definitely did not do as good of a job as my husband would have done, but the desk is still standing and I am quite proud of it. Both my husband and I are happy that I am no longer bugging him to build a desk, and my daughter is happy she has a place to do her work. I had been pleading with my husband to fix the flat tire on my double stroller, as it was my lifeline to the outside world. The longer I had to wait for it, the more impatient I became. One afternoon, my husband and I were discussing the matter when I began to giggle. I felt a little guilty as I admitted to my husband that I did in fact know how to change the tire but just didn’t want to. My husband was less than amused, knowing I could have fixed it all along while I had been upset at him for not doing it.
On all of these occasions, I could have been angry or bitter at my husband for not meeting my expectations. However, they were my expectations and I had the capability to fulfill them. My husband did fix the stroller, even though I was capable of doing it. The desk would have been nicer if he had built it. The trash will always stink if I leave it. The point is, I am usually happier when I work to fulfill my own expectations than when I wait for someone else to do it for me.
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Praise
"Family Ever After is a must-read for every happily married Cinderella who wonders why she’s still holding the broom." - Rachelle J. Christensen, award-winning author of Wrong Number and Caller ID
"Michelle is open enough to have given readers an intimate look into her life and those close to her, allowing us to learn from both painful and sweet experiences. Her self-reflective style and meaningful insights, if applied, would clearly make a profound impact in the lives of readers." - Shawn Edgington Ph.D.
About the Author
Michelle Packard is a mother to her four very human and totally fabulous kids. Her oldest, Ella is always in charge and leads the pack with creativity and curiosity, Daniel follows with loyalty and loves tenderly, Julia is a doll and always buzzing over something beautiful, and Jackson could hunt down the last sharpie on earth to create art on your bathroom wall. She has been married ten years and is quite taken with her guy. Date night is her favorite and she dreams of weekend getaways with her man. She loves creating beauty through floral design, but apparently has no gift with living flowers (They end of upside down and pressed in books). She finds parties alluring. They beckon her to invite people over, spend way too much time preparing food for murder mystery dinners, and totally enjoy friends and family. Michelle holds a bachelors degree in Home and Family Science from Brigham Young University. She has spent a great deal of time working with children and young adults and finds her greatest joy is happy families.Tour Giveaway
Ends at 12:01am EST on May 20th
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You are going to put words in my box?! *squeezes you* Now I shall stalk YOUR blog!