Hebrews 11:1
When our kids mess up, as mothers it's easy to turn the blame on ourselves. Isn't it? We ask, "Where did I go wrong?" What did I do wrong as a parent? Didn't I teach them right from wrong? What could I have done differently? It's interesting to me that when a teen gets in... Continue Reading →
Let's just be honest here. We all are freaked out about raising kids. All moms fear messing up our kids big time. Like, they will need therapy big. When my kids were younger, parenting felt tough, but manageable. Daughter has temper-tantrums? There's a book, a blog post, or at least advise from a friend to... Continue Reading →
There are two things that are guaranteed when you become a mother... you will catch your child's puke in your hands; and you will be called a Mean Mom by one, or all your children It will happen once, twice, or even more times than you can count. And if you have more than one... Continue Reading →
I've officially been a mother now for a little over 14 years. Long gone are the days of having a new-born who won't sleep through the night. Those days were so awkward. I didn't know what the heck I was doing, what was the "right" way to do this mothering thing. There were so many questions.... Continue Reading →
Dear moms of teens, It's time we stick together. Seemingly good teens will make bad decisions. Sometimes they don't get caught, or it takes months before the truth comes out. Sometimes they get caught doing something with potentially dangerous consequences. And when they get caught, we moms have to stick together. And stop the finger... Continue Reading →
My one word for 2016 is GRATITUDE. It's no surprise that I signed up to receive a pre-release of Kristen Welch's book, "Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World". I want my kids to be a lot of things. I want them to be happy, caring, healthy, successful, and basically not be jerks. But gratitude... Continue Reading →
By now, everyone has watched the viral video of the yellow clad Baltimore mamma slapping and yelling at her son in the middle of a street protest. Some have hailed her 'Mom of the Year', others call her an abusive parent. No matter what side your opinions fall on, I bet you five bucks, in... Continue Reading →
Homework is supposed be for the benefit of my kids. It should only take 20 minutes a night to complete. It says so right in black and white in the school handbook. Insert me laughing, hysterically. After yet another homework fight with my second grader, I wrote a little I Hate You, Homework list. Because... Continue Reading →
I have been living with a teenager for a week now and it has been an education. As in, a big fat lesson in internet safety. Some of you may have been there, done that, but for me, it's my first time to this rodeo. And this rodeo just kicked me in my butt! We live... Continue Reading →
It happens before the moment we hold our baby for the first time. Women everywhere are taking sides in the mother vs mother debate. Natural child-birth mother vs pass-me-the-epidural mother. Even before the sleep derivation makes us so crazy, men run and hide, women choose a side in the parenting-child-rearing war. Breast feeding vs formula... Continue Reading →
Ever have one of those days when your kid messes up in a big way that it boggles your mind, leaving you to only ask, "Who are you and what have you done with my kid?" I think I hear a resounding, "Heck, Yeah!" A phone call from the school with my tween crying on... Continue Reading →
This sign was taped to my 7-year-olds bedroom door. She had been fighting with her big sister...again. I don't remember what they were fighting about, but she lost her temper. Screaming. Stomping. Slamming of the door. She was sitting in time-out to calm down. She scribbled this note, then slapped it on the door. My... Continue Reading →
This weekends the girls had a screaming match over a sheet. The youngest was using a sheet to make a tent. The oldest HAD to use that one and only sheet to make her bed. Screaming. Door slamming. More screaming. "I hate you!" flew out of their mouths. Because of a sheet. To be clear,... Continue Reading →
In my email inbox was a post from Women Who Believe: "Joy. Nehemiah 8:10 suggests that the “joy of the Lord is our strength”. Strength is what we need to get us through these cold days of winter, with our lives often swinging back and forth between the brightness of sunshine and the dredge of... Continue Reading →
...I had to console Alex, my 10-year-old, when she got her first bad hair cut. I don't know what the "stylist" at Fantastic Sam's was thinking. It's just B-A-D! ...I had to say, "Stop licking your armpit!" at the dinner table. Never thought I would say that, ever! And, hubby was one of them. Eeewww...... Continue Reading →
Ten years ago I almost gave birth in the hospital parking lot. Flashback to a few hours earlier that morning: I wasn't even sure if I was in labor. I had to crack open my copy of "What to expect when you're expecting" to check my symptoms. And check it again. Thankfully I made it... Continue Reading →
Yesterday was the first day of Pre-school for Parker. And it was the first day she became a thief! My sweet, precious daughter smuggled a small teddy bear out of the school under her sundress...in her underwear! So this reminds me of a story my mother fondly told of her childhood... Mom's twin sister, Bonnie,... Continue Reading →
Do you think about how the "other half" of mothers live? Not that other half...the wealthy-with-a-nanny-kind-of-mother. I am talking about the "other" mothers living around the world who are living in poverty, despair, daily fear, and anguish. I do. I think about "other" moms around the world a lot. Today, the other mother will watch... Continue Reading →
Okay, so someone ripped the wall hooks off Parker's bedroom wall...her newly painted wall...damaged the wall! Parker wouldn't fess up. She blamed it on Alex (who wasn't even home at the time). So we sat down at the table for lunch and talked. I asked her, "What would Jesus say if I asked Him who... Continue Reading →
I am that mom who yells at her kids sometimes. Who expects too much of them. Then feels guilty for it. I am that mom who is a card-caring member of the "Mommy Guilt Club". I am that mom who is just trying to do my best...without the aid of prescription medications, or a martini... Continue Reading →
All she wanted for Christmas is a Zuca bag. I case you have a clue what a Zuca bag is...it's a $150 bag to carry her $60 ice skate in, people! We can't justify shelling out $150 on ONE gift. $150 is more than I would spent on her total for Christmas. So how do... Continue Reading →
Re-post from July 8, 2009 My oldest daughter is a “mini-me”. If you were to take a picture of her right now and put it along side a picture of me at her age, you couldn’t tell the two of us apart. The only clue to giving our identity away would be that my picture... Continue Reading →
Well, not exactly. Alex, who is in 3rd grade, had a cough; so I did what any self-respecting parent would do...I sent her to school with cough drops. Little did I know the trouble these little cough drops would cause. I received a phone call from Alex's school informing me that her cough drops had... Continue Reading →
Have Faith Everyday 