I asked Siri a question. I am not sure why since even my kids believe Siri hates me. She doesn’t seem to know what I am asking her and even when she says she understands me her answer doesn’t make sense. Here is an example: I wanted to chunk my phone across the room. As a mom, sometimes I feel like this when I am talking to my children. I may say, “Go clean your room.” Yet somehow they hear, “Go play with your toys.” But often our miscommunications are of the deeper sort. I want to be available …
How to Set Curfews for Teenagers
There’s no greater DoAhead on the planet than raising good kids. It can feel like a daunting task when they are little but sometimes it can feel impossible when they become teens. One such example has to do with weekend recreation. You know the drill. It’s a Friday night and your beyond exhausted waiting for your teen to get home. Oh, it’s not that you have a bad kid. It’s just part of parenting teens. Years ago a mother who mentored me told me that there are two seasons in which a parent becomes sleep deprived. The first season is when the …
What I Didn’t Want My Girls to Know About Dating
When it came to guys and dating as a young women, did you feel like you went at it alone? No one gave you any direction on figuring the whole thing out? My youth pastor tried. He told me to make out “my list” – …the one with all of the qualities I was going to look for in a guy. Wow, was that one long list! Faithful Honest Stable Hard-working Kind Funny… With my list in my head and in my heart, I began the search. What someone failed to tell me was when you’re 19 years old, finding …
How to Mentor Your Children Through the Holidays
As we find ourselves full-steam into this holiday month, I am especially sensitive about the opportunity to intentionally mentor my children through the holidays. I want to help them embrace the fullness of remembering the Christ child’s birth, without heaping on extra responsibilities rooted in traditions that become a drain on their schedules and deplete their rest and joy. The challenge, however, is that my children are in distinctly different developmental stages. Oh the Teens My oldest, fifteen, is studying for finals while primarily being concerned with seeing her friends as much as possible before the long, family-focused break. …
I Am The Manager of Stuff
Well …at least the roll is within reach. I suppose if a box of tissue had been nearby the toilet paper may not have even made it to the counter. Fellow Mamas, have you noticed…we are the end of the line when it comes to household management ? We get the stuff. Organize the stuff. Toss the stuff. Locate the stuff. And donate the stuff. Why is it that I know where my daughter’s earrings, my son’s shoes, and husband’s wallet are? Click To Tweet Why is it that I know where my daughter’s earrings, my son’s shoes, and husband’s …
We Can Train Them Up But–
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 NKJV Chances are if you’ve been around any mom of faith then you’ve probably rubbed up against this verse a few times. It’s sort of like the parenting “go-to” verse. It’s a great truth that I’ve clung to many times while raising my boys…but, there’s one part of it that I never fully was able to grasp until now. Here’s what I’ve been learning on my twenty first year as a mama bear, we can train up …
Encouraging First Time Obedience
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” Ephesians 6:1-3 (NKJV) First time obedience is a goal parents desire for their children. Parents desire it so children learn to respect authority, for their safety, and our sanity. However I often wonder if the goal for first time obedience removes the human element from our children. Children are not robots. They have plans, desires, dreams, and wills of their own. Therefore children will get frustrated when …
{Moms of Girls} When Clothing is an Opportunity for an Eternal Investment
Can you remember the days when you were able to dress your daughter in a cute little onesie covered in polka dots or a little seersucker sundresses with matching white underpants? Once upon a time, we were mommies who got to play dress up with our little girl. But then she grew up and older and morphed into a tweenager while you still wanted to hold her hand and guide every single choice. Now clothing is no longer a matter of cuteness — it’s a declaration of independence. It’s the source of stressful conversations and potentially explosive drama, especially for …
Avoiding the ER
Minnesota, Colorado, Virginia, Utah, California are all states where at least one Wildenberg child has made a trip to the ER. It isn’t an official family vacation until we take at least one trip to Urgent Care or the Emergency Room. I prefer to avoid the ER. There is another -er that would be good to avoid. The suffix, er. The er that comes at the end of a word: Smarter Happier Sweeter Nicer When we compare our kiddos to one-another we can do some damage. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” It’s true. Comparison can turn admiration into envy …