We work hard to have happy families. We even sing about happy families in church. But sometimes it is not as easy as it may seem.

I'm always looking for tools and ideas to help families experience greater joy. I am interested in anything that will help you have a happier family and greater peace in living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Order, cleanliness, kindness - these are all traits it would seem of a disciple of the Lord.

I was excited to find an actual tool to help you bring these things more fully into your own home. Are you tired of trying to get your children to clean their rooms? Do you have fights about bedtime rules? What about trying to get your children out the door in time for the school bus?

If so, you are not alone. I'm so excited to share something that I think will help tremendously with these scenarios - if not for you, most likely for one of your friends! Meet Christine Mullins, originator of "Children's Miracle Music."

C.S.: Christine, you have brought about a new program to help parents stop "tearing out their hair" during morning and evening routines with their children. Will you tell us about this new parenting tool?

CHRISTINE: It’s a FUN game where parents can press a button to see their children (and spouse) happily and quickly clean the house each day. The game also gets families ready on time in the mornings and into bed on time at night without having to say one word of encouragement to them. It’s called Children’s Miracle Music.

C.S.: What have been some of the comments you've received from parents who are using Children's Miracle Music in their homes?

CHRISTINE: The comments have been exciting. Here are some of them:

• “The children had put the Morning Children's Miracle Music CD on by themselves. They all ran to clean up the house, get dressed and ready for school all on their own.”

• “I contacted you a few weeks ago about purchasing Children's Miracle Music and I just wanted to tell you that we LOVE it! We have cut our getting ready time in the morning almost in half and my children think that it is so fun.”

• “I wouldn't have ordered the second one if I had not had the rave reviews from my daughter-in-law. She says it's worth 3 times the cost because it really works.”

• “Thank you so much for Children's Miracle Music! Holy cow, that was amazing! I couldn't believe it! My oldest daughter is twelve and she thought that she would just lie in bed all morning and not even listen to it and, no kidding, like, two minutes later they were all up racing around doing their things and in the amount of time that the CD went by the kids were completely ready to go for the morning. It was incredible! I've never seen it before in my whole life, so, WOW!”

C.S.: That's pretty impressive. Tell us a little about yourself. You must have kids of your own?

CHRISTINE: I am a mother of seven children. I feel very strongly that caring for, loving and training my children is the most important career that I could ever have. Making sure that they learn the skills they need to be intelligent, responsible, loving, well balanced and caring adults are the focus of my life along with trying to be a great partner to my husband. I believe that living “Happily Ever After” is possible if we work hard, every day, to learn how to live happily together forever. The following picture is of our family minus two additions.

C.S.: Did you have an immediate impression of the whole Children’s Miracle Music program as it is today or was there a lot of research and testing that went into the system?

CHRISTINE: Fifteen years of research and testing was done before Children’s Miracle Music was created. As I researched, I found that the two biggest frustrations in a family are undefined and unfulfilled expectations. Children’s Miracle Music defines who should do what and exactly when and how long they have to do it. Frustrations in the home are replaced with feelings of love because the family is able to happily work together to serve each other without being asked to.

This defining of tasks and knowledge of when and how fast they will be fulfilled enables parents to have peace of mind to do other things with their day knowing that there is a specific time when their home will be cleaned, the laundry will be done and the dishes will be taken care of. Peace of mind also comes from knowing exactly who will do each task without having to ask them to do it.

C.S.: Tell us how you use music to influence families with your Children’s Miracle Music game.

CHRISTINE: Children’s Miracle Music uses music as a timing mechanism which enables children to understand the passage of a specific amount of time as they accomplish each of their tasks. The music is also used to change their attitudes to ones of action because of the fun upbeat rhythm in the music. They then have the capability to do what they should AND the motivation to do it… ON TIME!

C.S.: You also have a script that is woven in and out between the songs. How did you decide what to include?

CHRISTINE: The script of which tasks would be included and in which order each task would be placed was written after years of testing had been done. Many families tried out different morning and evening schedules in an effort to find out:

1. Which responsibilities should be done each morning and evening
2. What length of time was needed for each task and
3. What the smoothest and most motivational transitions were in going from one task to the next.

The wording in the script, which is placed between the songs, simply states a small manageable action to do and then gives a positive affirmation for having accomplished the previous task. It uses a ‘perfect mother’ voice.

One lady said that she loves how her children always hear positive and uplifting directions even when she, herself, doesn’t feel like being the ‘perfect mother’ at times.

Next week we learn about how Christine transformed an idea to an actually marketed product, in addition to why she has worked so hard to bless the lives of so many.


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