A walk to my mailbox yesterday revealed a rose about to bloom. A clematis vine winds its way up the porch, hanging with purple blossoms. Even the fungus on the stump has gone from espresso cup to soup bowl size in a matter of days. If growth is the symphony of springtime, our children take center stage. It’s time for mommies everywhere to set aside their ironing baskets, resist spring cleaning, and turn off technology in favor of embracing this season of growth with our children. Including these 7 essential ingredients in your spring will help you make the …
5 Simple Steps To Defuse The Angry Mommy Syndrome
I’ve been really struggling with, anger. It comes in all shapes and sizes in my home. Yelling, testy remarks, impatience, careless words, agitation, and more. Yes, I am the mom that yells, raises her voice, tells her kids to hurry up, and says unkind things to her husband. Not all the time, however there are days when silly little things just rattle me and get under my skin. I don’t want to be this woman anymore and it’s time to move forward with God walking along side me to change it. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t the only one willing …
Raising a Reader
3 steps to foster a love of books starting from birth! “What can I do now to prepare my children to succeed in school?” I’m often asked when I speak to MOPS groups. In this age of computerized everything, my low-tech answer raises eyebrows. “Books and reading…followed by more books and more reading…and after that, even more books and even more reading!” is my standard reply. Thanks to Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook (http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/), Daniel and I became fanatical about Family Reading Time when our kids were just 2 and 4. We quit watching TV and spent 1-2 hours per …
10 Questions To Help You Parent With A Plan And A Purpose
“Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (Amplified) What would your life look like if you had a vision for your life and for your family? Most of us tend to let life happen and respond to each day as it comes. And at times, we get so caught up in the dailies that it’s hard to do anything else. But what if we looked at parenting our children through the lens of who we long …
Stop. Breathe.
A misty drizzle spritzes the window while I relax in the recliner and listen to my children’s laughter. When what to my wandering eye should appear, but a miniature sleigh and…Oops! I guess I got too relaxed for a moment. It’s a rare occurrence these days to have time to daydream. I’m a freelance writer and editor, but I also homeschool my children. School’s in full session, as is all the busy-ness that accompanies this season of life. We have classes, gymnastics, Taekwondo, baseball games, church events and sleepovers. Not to mention deadlines, doctor appointments, Bible studies and holidays. Complicate …
Packing a Young Person’s Heart
Last Friday we took our daughter on a college visit. Serene lawns and still hallways echoed the time year: Spring Break. As we toured the campus, thoughts about our sweet girl’s future exploded in my mind like kernels in an air popper. I longed to see some students as evidence that when kids grow up they’re okay. But they were on Spring Break. Inside the dorms, our guide was kind (bold? crazy?) enough to show us several rooms where it looked like the Rapture had taken place. Books, guitars, clothes, pizza pans, and shoes littered the floors and beds. There …
Are You A Frazzled Mom?
By Featured Guest: Amanda Beth Sometimes I feel like I’m running a hundred miles an hour in fifty different directions, but not getting anywhere. Do you ever feel that way? Since having my fourth child two years ago, I’ve been worn down. It’s almost impossible to do anything without having to constantly stop and take care of something. Even when I started typing this post, I had to stop and break up two fights, put one kid in time out TWICE, fix a broken toy, and clean up not one spill, but THREE spills (not joking!). A five minute …
The “Joy” of Parenting in the Friendly Skies
Oh no, I groan inwardly as I slide into my seat on the crowded Southwest Airlines plane. The only remaining isle seat is not just at the very back of the plane. It’s also next to a woman sitting next to her preschool son. Her loud preschool son. This is going to be the longest hour-and-twenty-minutes of my life, I gloomily predict. I am wrong. As time literally flies by, I am first amazed, then awed, and finally deeply moved by the vibrant relationship I witness beside me. After we land, I wrack my brain for a way to tell …
Parenting Teens thru Spring Break
What will your teen do over Spring Break? Maybe you’re in the sippy cup years, looking ahead with fear and trembling to the Facebook years. How can we watch out for our teens in today’s world? Last night I feel asleep to the sound of laughter drifting upstairs from young women in our basement. Two are on the threshold of college; two others are are signed up for the ACT. All are counting the days ’til spring break. If the teen years are such a vibrant time of life, why do we dread parenting through it? You can prepare yourself …
Growing Up Different
Another crazy afternoon, a day in the life of me. Except this time, we had just picked up my oldest from school and she is still struggling to keep herself together. I juggle her assignments, Elijah’s off the wall energy and Tori’s victorious antics. We settle in for the evening, supper, showers, stories, and bedtime. After I get the little ones to bed, I hustle Chy into the shower. She takes longer than usual, forty five minutes later, she is out, dripping wet and her eyes hold a brokenness in them. She asks me quietly if I would …