“That was easy,” the red easy button’s mechanical voice intoned. And that is how we want life – easy. That is why articles titled 25 Great Life Hacks continually make their rounds in cyberspace. We all want the easy way: the easy way to lose weight the easy way to finance furniture with no money down the easy way to raise children the easy life We all have a list too – an It Would Be Easier If list. It would be easier if: My kids would get along. My kids would obey the first time every time. My husband …
Anger: How to Keep from Exploding
“I SAID NO WORDS!” like daggers my words flew upstairs to my three delightful children. And I hate my words as soon as they leave my mouth. I hate them. I long to have all the answers to discipline issues and heart issues. I long to encourage them solely through positive words or modeling – which means I also have to model handling MY anger better. Ahem. So what do we do when we let our anger get the best of us? Apologize. Look into your child’s eyes. Use his or her name. Perhaps say something like: “Susie, please …
Schooling
Homeschooler I don’t wear it like a badge of honor, but it is my label. A job I accepted last year with fear and trepidation. And this year I take it up again a little wiser and still concerned that I educate my children well. I am a mom who longs to raise kids who love to learn. I want them to be life-long learners. I want them to love good books and communicate well in both written and spoken word. I secretly hope they love science and learn to look at math as a challenge, not an obstacle. I …
Tyranny of the To-Do List
I rehearsed my checklist in my head, “Too many to-dos, not enough checkmarks, not enough time.” My throat tightened and electricity shot through my shoulders into my neck. “Great, my eye is twitching again,” I muttered. My to-do list loomed big and heavy around my shoulders. When my daughter touched my hand I jumped and pulled my arm away. “What,” my voiced knifed through the air, “do you need precious girl?” My words did not mask the frustration in my voice. “And now I’ve hurt her feelings.” The weight around my shoulders doubled as my inner monologue continued. “I’m …
How to Have Fun When They Don’t Feel Like It
I have a confession. Deep down I have a lazy side. I’d prefer to do only what I “feel like” doing, but still have success. You know I’d prefer to not work out or watch what I eat and lose weight. Or have a book deal fall into my lap and a book pour out of me that requires no editing. And the same is true of mothering. I want it to be easy. My kids to obey me, respect me, and on the rare occasion they disagree with me they respectfully state their opinion and don’t complain when I …
Water Safety
It is nearly Summer. School is out and temperatures are beginning to soar. That can only mean that swimming pools, lakes, creeks, and oceans are calling our name. Most of us think we know what drowning looks like. We’ve seen it on T.V. or in a movie. Right? Someone is wildly flailing their arms and crying for help. That is how we know someone is in trouble. But is that reality? According to Dr. Frank Pia – over 20 years experience as a life guard – there is an instinctive drowning response that looks less like the movies and more like …
A Broken Mother’s Day Blessing
“Mom,” his voice echoes with emotion knowing that he may not have another month with her. “Mommy!” his voice echoes through doors crying for arms to comfort him after a bad dream. “Mom,” she whispers over and over as she looks at the tiny bundle in her arms. Mom, the title rattles in her heart and mind, I just want to be a mom. “Mom?!” sarcasm drips from her words as she relives how her mother wronged her. Tomorrow is the day we celebrate mothers and motherhood. We paste saintly names to broken women who never tried. And talk of …
How to Cast Visions with and for Your Kids
It hit me when she turned nine. I am halfway done with her…. I don’t mean I won’t be part of her life any more, but I won’t be the main influence. She will be out on her own, making her own decisions…AND it freaked me out. I haven’t done enough, taught her enough, loved her enough… Now let’s be real. Some of you moms are great at seeing your kids’ future selves. Somehow you synthesize what you know about them and their personality and you have a vision of who they will be. I don’t. My kids are mysteries …
Hope for the Hopeless
They looked for Him in a place like this… A place for the dead, the forgotten…Where names etched were worn away… A hopeless place. A place where hopes and dreams end… But that day was different. The ground shook, a veil — the one that separated people from God’s throne room — tore in two, and an angel spoke to women who came to pay respects to a dead man. “He is not here. He has risen.” The words of the angel reverberate throughout all of history. He is not here… He has beaten death. He has paid our way, …
Living with Hands Wide Open
My chest tightens as electricity shoots through my neck into my shoulders. My heart beat races and my left eye twitches. I’m messing them up, my mind races ahead twenty years. They will be in therapy because I…I can’t do this. I see them in my mind’s eye, twenty years older, telling their counselors how much they hate me. My eye twitches faster. I take a deep breath and rub my temples. If only I could… But there is no time. “MOM! She stuck her tongue out at me,” one precious child bellows. “He kicked me!” another retorts. And …