My daughter was 4 and sitting in the back seat of our van when we were driving down the road. I heard a distinct sound that I won’t readily forget. In a blur, my husband pulled over as I realized she was crying and choking on a peppermint that I thought she had long finished…
Can your job really influence how successful you are at being a peaceful or mindful parent? Research says yes. In fact, some of the latest research coming out this past year indicates that parents trying to juggle priorities in 2019 need flexibility in their workplace in order to also extend emotional flexibility in the home….
Jenn, Emma, and Rhett know all too well what it sounds like when mom starts counting. They hear me from a distant room… “1… 2…3…” and that’s when feet start scattering to do what I asked them to do in the first place like clean up their spill, get down from trying to climb out…
When our family started homeschooling, suddenly the house was a thousand times more of a disaster because the house was our home base. And it was grating on my nerves to walk through our home and see so many messes. Unfortunately, no matter how much I begged or demanded that my kids work on cleaning,…
Let’s face it; life can be challenging at times. And our kids know it better than anyone. They’re learning how to navigate big emotions, communicate difficult situations, and just understand their world. There are moments of pure bliss, which reminds us of the joy of being human and there are other moments where we feel…
The number of times I hear “but” from Jenn and Emma each day is astounding. In their minds not only are they making excuses, but they’re building walls. They’re setting themselves up for failure without realizing that even failure is a gift. They don’t realize that both success and failure are opportunities to grow and…
As a former high school teacher, I had students ranging from 16-19 who had book smarts but not simple life skills or job etiquette. I told them from day one that no matter what they learned about history, I wanted them to, above all, walk out of my classroom with organization strategies, the ability to…
I am not sure that as a child I learned to develop emotional strength in a way that would serve me well as an adult. In fact, I’ll be honest that I am more than just a crier, I’m an all-out hurricane of big emotions that tends to unravel right when I am needed most….
Thank you Maxi-Cosi for sponsoring this post. Keep your little adventurers comfy, safe & stylish with the Maxi-Cosi Magellan™ Max 5-in-1 Convertible Car Seat! When I tell people I have 3 kids, I’m often advised that kids grow up fast and that, regarding tough days as a parent, the days are long but the years…
To shame someone is to put them down. It’s to crush their heart and make them feel less-than in the moment. Most literally, if we descriptively define what it actually means to use our words to shame another person, it is to inhibit, humiliate, embarrass, degrade, crush, and wither their very soul. And yet we…
Summertime has so much nostalgia associated with it. I want to say that it’s because everything was a little slower, there was less pressure, and the opportunities to go and do fun things were endless. It doesn’t take much to make meaningful memories when it’s full of vacations and big-over-the-top excursions. But how can we…
The first time I heard about cooperative board games, I wasn’t too enthusiastic. You see, both of my parents were physical education teachers… so the competitive spirit is alive and well in my soul. So why would I want to spend my time playing a game where there was no true winner? Or where I had…