Eyres On The Road

Continuing with the "stories" theme of the last few weeks, the Eyres tell us the stories of some of the wild and unusual things they have done with their children during summer vacations. Mostly with the frequent flier miles compiled from their global speaking engagements, Richard and Linda were able to take their kids to live in different cultures, and often in third world situations, in an effort to build perspective, empathy and tolerance. They talk about summers in Japan, in Romania, in Mexico, in Wales, and building a log cabin in the Oregon wilderness. Still in London, awaiting the birth of grand-twins, they also talk about earlier family time in England.

Still in England awaiting the birth of their daughter's twins, Richard and Linda reflect on today's show about Joy School and how it became an international phenomenon used by more than half a million families to teach preschoolers the social and emotional joys that make them ready for Kindergarten--and for life. The story actually begins in England where the Eyres were as the initial Joy School curriculum was being formed, and there were some other stories in connection with its beginning that all families, and all parents and grandparents can learn from.

Having completed their quarantine, the Eyres have moved from Somerset up to London to be with their youngest daughter who will deliver twins any day now.  So on today's show, they talk about the various times when they have lived in London--as Mission Presidents, and when they went back ten years later so that their younger children could have some of the same British experience and schooling that their older children experienced during the mission.  Richard and Linda go into story-telling mode and share some of the family centric English incidents that are dear to them and instructive to all of us with regard to our families.

Once again casting from England, the Eyres talk today about their English ancestors, and ancestors in general and how knowing their stories can give us both identity and resilience. Richard and Linda are in quarantine in the Southwest of England, where many of their ancestors lived, and they are using their time there to harvest all they can about those for-bearers and their lives and times. They not only share some of these stories on today's program, but suggest ways we all can bring to life the stories of our ancestors and make them available and accessible to our children.

Joining us today from the little village of Batheaston, in Somerset, England, Richard and Linda are in quarantine for 14 days, hoping that their splendid isolation will end at about the same time as their youngest daughter gives birth to her twins in London. So how could they talk about anything today other than baby stories--birth stories--those glorious moments when children from a pre-mortal existence enter into this world.The Eyres recall the birth of many of their children and grandchildren including their son who came nine weeks early in London four decades ago, and their other set of grandchildren twins that arrived in San Jose just hours before they left on a round-the-world book and speaking tour.  Every birth is a joyful miracle, and Wordsworth was right when he said "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting, the soul that rises with us, our life-star, hath had elsewhere its setting and cometh from afar..."

Each week for the past year the Eyres have been reviewing the content of one of their 52 books. On today's show, they tell some of their "Book Stories" and get into how they became authors in the first place and how luck or fate (but we would like to call it blessings) led them on a path that resulted in books that sold millions, were translated into more than a dozen languages, and led to a secondary career of speaking and lecturing throughout the world. Richard and Linda take little of the credit, and their stories illustrate how many "happy accidents" went into their writing career. They begin today's show with a current story as they prepare to go on a "genealogy quarantine" to Bath, England and then to London for the birth of their youngest daughter's twins.

Lincoln said "Sometimes I am driven to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have no place else to go." As parents, we often feel this same feeling. Parenting is hard, children are complicated, the world is dangerous and confusing, particularly in this pandemic--and we are driven to our knees because we have nowhere else to go. And this can be a GOOD THING, because an earthly parent praying to a Heavenly Parent about a child that they share can create some of the most fervent, effectual prayers ever uttered. And it can generate answers that we would never find anywhere else. On today's show, the Eyres talk about parental prayer and how we can all make it a more important part of our lives.

Is there any time when it is more important to count our blessings than in a pandemic? On today's cast, the Eyres give us twelve "Gratitude Challenges" that they guarantee will shift our focus from what's wrong to what's right. And they begin the show with 5 questions: How has the pandemic changed 1. The world? 2. This country? 3. The Church 4. Your family? and 5. YOU?

Any parent or grandparent worth their salt has known the joy of reading to a child. And there are so many great stories to read! But the best stories are the ones that teach a principle. If a child's story teaches them the importance and the blessing of a VALUE, then that value will become a part of them. The Eyres, when they founded Joy School for preschoolers nearly 40 years ago, had no idea that over half a million families would use the curriculum and the stories and songs and activities in their homes. Recently a publisher called BushelandPeck took all of the stories from Joy School and put them into one anthology. Richard and Linda got so excited about it that they decided to share some of those stories on today's episode--and to give praise to the two-way joy that happens when parents or grandparents read aloud to young children.

Marriaging is an active, grow-and-improve word like parenting, and on today's show, the Eyres expose 8 myths or misconceptions about the world's oldest institution and how false paradigms and unrealistic expectations of these myths can undermine a relationship. Most importantly, Linda and Richard talk about how each myth can be replaced with an "implementable" truth that will strengthen the most important relationship of our lives.

The paradox is that the three things we think will bring us more happiness--more control, more ownership, and more independence--actually rob us of joy and happiness! The Eyres, on today's show, give us a full overview of Richard's Paradigm Shift from CO&I--Control, Ownership, and Independence to SS&S--Serendipity, Stewardship, and Synerticity. They draw from Richard's unique two sided, two cover book with one side outlining the shortcomings and frustrations of a life devoted to CO&I. When it is flipped over, the other side takes us on a deep exploration of the ways SS&S can add happiness to our lives. Listen in today as Richard and Linda talk about a whole new paredigm for happiness in our families and in our lives.

Despite the fact that most Grandparents say that their grandkids are the best part of their lives, very little has been written on how to be a better, more influential grandparent. And most of what has been written is by Grandmothers to Grandmothers (Linda's book on Grandmothering was discussed on last week's show). But that all changed with a new book by Richard Eyre--a man-to-man book, a grandfather to grandfather book that draws us in through its stories, its logic and it's practicality. The Eyres discuss the book on today's show with Linda doing the interviewing and Richard explaining what it means to be a Proactive Grandfather.

Linda Eyre's book on GRANDmothering has warmed the cockles of countless Grandma's hearts, opening up a treasure trove of new and practical ideas to create a love affair with grandkids and to become relevant and involved and influential in their lives even as you work on building your own greatest legacy. On today's show, Linda and Richard talk about the joys of grandmothering and point out that it is a bit different than grandfathering, which will be their subject next week.

Poetry is a different kind of form for a book by the Eyres but trust that the themes of family, faith, and love will still be there. Today Richard and Linda read aloud selections from Poems: About Family and Favorites: Exploring Who and What We Love. There is a music to hearing a poem read aloud, so join with us as we listen to these personal stories and lessons in rhyme.

Tennis scholarships paid Richard’s way through college and today, he says, the game keeps him from "going to pot". As a nationally ranked senior player, he cherishes tennis as the one game where he can still beat his kids, and also as "the best metaphor of any sport for the game of life." Like how it's the only game where the score starts over every few minutes, the game where you have to get to "advantage" before you can win, and the game that keeps score with words like "love" and "deuce" and "serve" and "receive." On today's show, Richard and Linda apply some of these metaphors to marriage and family and raising our children, drawing from Richard's book "Tennis and LIfe."

Controlling our appetites is an indispensable part of good parenting and good example-setting for our children. If we can learn to control our appetite for food, it will lead to control of ALL of our other appetites, including our technology appetite. When Dr, Bridell's Rational Diet was serialized in Meridian Magazine and drew comments and commendations from thousands of readers, it was decided to reveal the identity of the mysterious Dr. Bridell who turned out to be none other than Richard Eyre. Richard had used the pen name because he wanted the revolutionary half-diet to stand on its own merits, but after the amazing results reported by users (literally tons of weight lost), it was time for Richard to come out of hiding. On today's show, Richard and Linda explain this unique and logical approach to dieting and appetite control in our lives.

What will the "Autumn" of your life be like? Will the golden years really be golden? With more than 80 million baby boomers all now in their 50's or 60's or early 70's, and with most of them able to expect to live close to or into their 90's, the questions of how to live these Autumn years is more relevant than it has ever been before. On today's show, Richard and Linda talk candidly about their own aging and make a host of practical suggestions about how we all can create fuller lives and maximize our longevity and our legacies.

Despite the success of the Eyre's "how-to" parenting books, they felt that it was time for something different--for a "why-to" book on what is happening to families around the world and why family decline is a problem that affects everyone in the world. They named the book The Turning, with reference to the scriptural admonition to turn the hearts of parents to children and children to parents. Richard and Linda explore what has happened to families and trace the causes and forces that are threatening families everywhere. The first half of the book is a realistic and somewhat painful look at family decline throughout the world and at the economic and social problems that result. The second half is about solutions, and the Eyres chart an imaginative and bold course that leaders in the business, political, religious and media sectors could and should take in order to save themselves by saving families.

For more than forty years, Richard and Linda have sent out a Thanksgiving Card to friends and family at the holiday season rather than a Christmas Card. The traditional and original cards that go out every November contain the latest family picture and a poem that tries to express the main focal points of their gratitude for the year past. Taken together, these 40 poems and some additional poetry to introduce and lead into them, give a wonderfully in depth picture of what awareness, appreciation, gratitude, and thanks-giving can be. Teaching our children to feel and express thankfulness can be a great legacy, and a boost to their lifelong happiness. On today's show, the Eyres make the claim that "Gratitude is not a path to happiness, gratitude IS happiness in its most obtainable form"

We used to call this problem "spoiled kids" or "selfish little brats" but today there is a better term to describe what is happening to kids who think they deserve to have everything they want, everything their friends have, and all without any work or effort on their part. The word is "Entitlement" and it is becoming a Trap in our society that catches kids in its clutches and squeezes the motivation and incentive right out of them. On today’s show, the Eyres suggest that chosen, earned Ownership is the antidote to Entitlement and the prerequisite of Responsibility...and they give us some specific ways to organize a Family Economy that will give children ownership of their money and their things and then progress to ownership of their choices, their grades, and their goals.