Let’s Talk Family Mottos | Bringing Up Bates

We love having uplifting family-friendly TV shows to watch, and even learn from, as a family. I am excited to partner with Everywhere Agency and Bringing Up Bates to share some family mottos and an update on their season premiere.
 

Let’s talk family mottos. Do you have any? The Bates family from the popular TV series Bringing Up Bates does and I was challenged to share some of ours. As I began working on this post, I really couldn’t think of any family mottos we had off the top of my head, but as I racked my brain, the mottos started to pour in.

 

 

What’s in a family motto?

To me, a family motto is something a family member repeats all the time or a quote that your family lives by (or tries to). They can be encouraging, challenging, sentimental, or silly. 

Throughout the episodes in Bringing Up Bates, you will hear a lot of great family mottos they have. This Thursday, June 2, at 9PM ET, Bringing Up Bates will be starting their fourth season and I am excited to hear some of the new mottos that will be shared. There’s a new episode every Thursday night.

Have you watched the past seasons of Bring Up Bates? This docu-series follows the life of Gil and Kelly Jo Bates and family, a conservative family with 19 kids and a growing number of grandchildren. Laugh, cry, clap, and experience with them this season as they go through all the changes Life brings, from the high points to the low points. This season brings new love, new babies, new careers, and new quotes to remember.

 

 

You can watch this series on the cable network, UP. This network’s shows are uplifting and positive while focusing on “real” families, seeking to impact and hearts and lives and change the world we live in for the better. Their mantra is “We Get Family” and they focus on strong family values and spending time with your loved ones. I love fun shows that are clean so I can watch them with my family.

 

I don’t know what’s in the future, but I know Who holds the future… and I’m looking forward to what He’s going to deliver.
-Gil

 

This quote from the show is one of my favorites, as we live by much of the same motto, though the wording we use is a bit different. Don’t you just love it? Worrying about tomorrow is so easy, but God already knows what tomorrow holds, so we don’t need to worry because He’s got it all figured out. We have been through a lot lately where we live, so we cling to this encouraging reminder. For more awesome quotes like this, be sure to watch the upcoming season on the UP TV network.

 

 

Some of these mottos, like the one above, are frame-worthy. Hearing mottos that other families hold makes me happy. A lot of times I’ll hear a motto someone shares and love it so much I will adopt it for my family, whether it is a great daily reminder to be loving or a silly quote that reminds me to not take things too seriously. Reading different mottos can really open your eyes to something you haven’t thought about before, encourage you, or even help your family grow; I want to share some of ours with you, along with a few fun quotes from Bringing Up Bates and some favorites from my blogger friends!

 

Everyday life is going to happen. It’s the special trips that sometimes are what we all remember.
-Gil, Bringing Up Bates

 

This is so true. We love remembering moments in everyday life, but we try to plan special trips that give us something extra special that will stand out and extra time to spend together as a family.

 

Get as many snuggles as you can because some day they [the kids] might not want to snuggle.
-Me

 

It’s so easy to get so wrapped up in your work and the busyness around you that you forget to be wrapped up in your child’s arms. When your child wants to snuggle, sometimes you just need to drop everything, embrace your child, and enjoy those snuggles because some day your child probably won’t be so snuggly. I’m not saying to force snuggles, but when they are offered, accept them with sentimentality.

 

I’d rather spend time with my family.
-My husband

 

My husband gets pressured a lot to go do things without us and stop inviting us to things, but he always says he would rather spend the time with his family. Time with friends is fun, but sometimes passing on the “fun” is more important than passing on the moments with your closest loved ones. This leads to another popular quote in our family:

 

Friends will change; family is constant.

 

As a military family, people are always moving around, in and out of our lives. We don’t plan to stay here forever and the people are always changing, but we will always be family. Friends moving away, or even moving on to new friends, can be discouraging, but this quote keeps us remembering a really important truth.

 

Never go to bed angry.

 

This quote we say is based off of the Bible verse Ephesians 4:26. We cling to this and, if we have disputes (which are inevitable), we make sure we work them out and forgive before we close our eyes to sleep. There have only been a couple occasions we haven’t don this, but when that happened, making things right was the first priority of the day.

 

Everyone makes mistakes–what matters most is how you deal with them.
-Me

 

 

Stemming from the quote above, we all make mistakes sometimes. Whether it’s big or small, affects just us or a bunch of others, the mistakes aren’t what matters, it’s how we deal with them. We always try to learn from our mistakes and be gentle in response to mistakes and humble ourselves to apologize, even as parents.

 

Bad days happen. Tomorrow is a new day.
-Me

 

We have a lot of bad days here. They happen. Instead of carrying them into the next day, we try to start the day fresh.

 

Today is a good day, even if it rains.
–Sunny Day Family (she even has a printable version here)

 

I love this quote. It goes along with my bad days happen quote. While some days you just need to accept are pretty unfortunate, it’s always good to stay positive overall.

 

Happiness is a choice. Choose happy.
–Playground Parkbench

 

Again, this goes along with our staying positive. While some days will be bad, it is always a great idea to look for things to be happy about during that time. Even the worst days have happy moments we can cling to.

 

Some days you just need ice cream for dinner.
-Me (free printable version here)

 

 

 

Whether it’s been a rough day, a long day, or just “one of those days”, some days you really just need ice cream for dinner. I say “ice cream”, but a lot of times we will go get frozen yogurt and top it with some fruit, grains, nuts, and some sweets so we can call it a little more “complete” of a meal.

 

Magic kisses always do the trick.
-Me

 

Maybe the kids clunked heads or tripped, maybe their pride is hurt or their heart is aching. Whatever it is, magic kisses from Mom (or super kisses from Dad) always do the trick. Of course some ouchies require medical attention, but there is so much power those magic kisses hold over my little ones. This is like the quote from Bringing Up Bates where Gil Bates says, “Popsicles and Band-Aids are the universal fix for any problem.”

 

Teamwork makes dreamwork.
–Tots Family

 

Working together as a family always makes things easier.

 

 

I love the quote above from my friend at Moms & Crafters.

 

You know what? Bananas.
-My oldest, E

 

This is something E says all the time and it is a great reminder to have fun and laugh together.

 

As you go about your day, try to keep track of inspiring or silly quotes your family members say. Pick your favorites and turn them into artwork to hang on the walls as reminders!

 

Read also: String Cheese Dress Up Family Challenge and 10 Things I Learned From Taking a Break

 

Do you have any great family mottos? I’d love to hear them! Have you watched Bringing Up Bates? What’s your favorite quote from the show? Share with me in the comments below.

 

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