Is The Family Workbook Worth It? | An Interview with Ruth Gyllenhammer

While we try not to play favorites at work (just like at home!), each member of Team Cultivate has a tool or two she loves even more than the others. Alli swears by the Intentional Weekly Planning Notepad, Jessica is a devotee of Write the Word® | Prayer, Bre loves her Tending Tape, and we all, of course, won't go a year without the PowerSheets® goal planner.

And me? Well, don't tell the others, but The Family Workbook might just be one of my favorite things I've ever created at Cultivate What Matters. Vibrant family cultures, lifegiving family routines, and meaningful family traditions are near and dear to my heart, and we were able to incorporate all of those things—plus much more—in The Family Workbook.

But today, you don't have to take my word for it! Earlier in the year I stumbled across a Substack post written by a mom who was using—and loving—The Family Workbook with her four kids. Friends, this delighted me to no end: it's the coolest thing to see a tool you created out in the world, doing exactly what it's meant to do! I loved reading Ruth's thoughts on The Family Workbook, and thought you would, too, especially if you've been on the fence about trying this tool. Please enjoy!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family! 

Hi! I’m Ruth Gyllenhammer. I live with my husband and four kids—three boys (ages 5, 7, and 9) and a one-year-old girl—in southern California. I’m mostly a stay-at-home mom, but I’m also the Content Director for Coffee + Crumbs and write a Substack called Home Making.

What attracted you to The Family Workbook? How were you hoping it would help your family?

When I saw The Family Workbook in a Cultivate What Matters email, I immediately recognized it as a tool to help us “number our days.” My husband and I want to be intentional about connecting with and teaching our kids, and I saw this workbook as a tool to help us do both of those things.

Tell us about how you've used The Family Workbook so far. 

Either at the end of the year around Thanksgiving or on New Year’s Day, my husband and I have a “family retreat” with the kids. This past year, I brought The Family Workbook with us to the cabin over Thanksgiving. My husband and I used the workbook to help us talk through our family values, set goals, and brainstorm a bucket list for the year with the kids. On an ongoing basis, we use the Family Meeting pages to connect week to week.

What are your favorite parts of the workbook?

The Blooming Guides are my favorite because they help us pay attention to the unique skills and needs of each of our kids, but I really love all the parts of the workbook because each part works together to help us develop and move towards our family vision. I love that the workbook is a way for us to capture all these values and goals and even weekly meetings in a way that we can look back on and maybe even hand down.

You've written about starting family meetings with your crew. Can you tell us a bit about what they look like and how this new practice has gone? 

We started family meetings this year, using The Family Workbook as our agenda and note-taking space. It’s definitely an evolving practice for us, but basically we try to take half an hour at the beginning of the week (usually Sunday evening) to read a devotion, sync our calendar, and connect about the week past and the week ahead. This was an especially helpful practice for us during busy weeks when school was in session.

(You can read more about Ruth's family's family meetings here!

What would you say to another mom who's on the fence about trying The Family Workbook?

It can feel so daunting to try to cultivate an intentional family life, but The Family Workbook is truly a fantastic tool to help you take that next step and connect the big vision to your day-to-day life!

Curious about The Family Workbook? 

Here's everything else you need to know!

What is The Family Workbook?

Some users have called The Family Workbook PowerSheets for your family. They're not wrong! As in PowerSheets, you will:

• Uncover what matters | First, you’ll uncover a big-picture vision for your family life through a series of simple (fun!) guided questions.
• Break it down | Then, you’ll set simple goals for the year that will move you closer to that vision. They’ll help you decide where to spend your time—and where you won’t. This will feel so good! You’ll also spend time focusing on each of your children and making a plan for how you can help them thrive.
• Live it out | Finally, you’ll use your monthly pages to focus on habits, rhythms, and action items that guide you and your family to live each day with intention.

What else is inside?

So much goodness! Keep an eye out for:

• An easy process for setting a vision, mission, and core values for your family
• A simple framework for setting and achieving family goals
• A big-picture family bucket list, plus fun lists (and ideas to put on them!) for each season
• Space to track life skills for each child (+ ideas, of course!)
• Blooming Guides, worksheets to help you check-in with each child and identify their gifts, needs, and what makes them unique
• A full year of weekly family meeting worksheets
• Space to build a weekly rhythm blueprint each season
• A library full of ideas, resources, and recommendations to add joy and depth to your family's days

And truly, so much more! The Family Workbook is a one-stop-shop—everything you need for a year of living intentionally as a family—and we know you'll love it as much as we do.

Shop The Family Workbook now! (And thank you again, Ruth!)