Eighteen years, maybe twenty: that’s about all the time you will have to prepare your kids to be happy, responsible, independent, peace-loving citizens of the world into which they were born. That might seem like a reasonably long time on the day you bring that little bundle of joy home from the hospital—but in the scheme of things, it’s really just a blink. One blink—that’s all the time you have to go after moments of joy, moments of love, moments of learning with a deep resolve to get and give all you can, while you can.
The book you hold in your hands, 101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home, was written to help you map out those precious years. It’s filled with ideas and advice designed to help you maximize your ability to send your children out into the world with all the tools they need to succeed, while making sure you and your kids enjoy every precious moment. So go ahead and read, learn, laugh, sing, swim, and fly a kite. Your children are God’s gracious gift—a gift so great, you’ll need His help to comprehend it.