Blog Category
Parenting
Making Time for Fun Family Traditions
We’re all busy. And it’s hard to ensure we are spending the time that we need to bond with our children, considering all of the things that everyone has going on. Find the time to commit to these family traditions and just watch the connections grow. Here are 8 great ways to bond with your kids and create fun family traditions, and they don’t have to be huge! 1) Spectator Sports 5) Be a Fan Club 2) Fishing Hole and Hunting Lodge 6) Get Outdoors 3) Creative Outlets 7) Travel and Explore Cultures 4) Leisure Sports 8) Unwind and Converse
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Confession: I Over-Project-Manage My Kids
Yes, I confess that I over project managed my kids. I fell into it very easily with my little mini-me Megan. She was so type A herself that dancing began at 4 and swimming and art lessons and piano and straight A’s and the diligence award accumulated quickly. She marched right through it all beautifully. I managed a very complex calendar of weekly events. My second, Emily, did it all, too. She thought all the activity was just what we do. And so did I…
Read Post →3 Ways to Parent with Passion
Every parent is inherently passionate about their kids, but the ‘stuff’ might be getting in the way. Here is a plan for passionate parenting. 1. Protect Yourself. Practice time management and cushion your time. 2. Be Realistic. It’s OK to let some things go. 3. Be Flexible. Ride the roller coaster, this will help you find joy in every day.
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3 Questions to Ask to Find Your Purpose of Motherhood
I believe that visionary moms are guided by core values and a sense of purpose beyond just worldly success. Their deeply held core ideology gives their families a strong sense of identity and a thread of continuity that holds them together in the face of change and even trials and tribulations. If a mom wants to drive for progress in her parenting, she needs to know her purpose and how to hit that clearly defined target that she is shooting for. {Tweet} What is it that you want? What is your goal? Define it and you will have your purpose for parenting. {Tweet} To help us find our purpose, we need to answer these 3 questions: What are your core beliefs? What is your goal for your children? What is your purpose as a mother, and how will you work it to reach your goal? Every mom will answer these questions differently. And that is what makes life so exciting. We are all unique, with unique perspectives, unique children, and unique opportunities. My core values and goal are only examples for you. This is how I answered: 1. What are your core beliefs? My core belief is a belief in …
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Tips For Helping Your Child Get a Summer Job
It is not easy to find those summer jobs. My kids have had lots of different jobs including babysitting, coaching swimming, JCrew sales associate, Publix bag boy, Chick fil A counter server, Kanakuk Camp Counselor, appliance delivery boy and construction worker. My oldest also had two different summer internships, one with Chick Fil A Corporate and one with NBC. Whether your child finds a job or not this summer, the process itself is a lesson worth learning. It will teach your child to value a job if they get one, how to apply, how to confidently approach a manager, and what to expect in an interview. Here are 10 tips for helping your child find a summer job! (click to tweet) Start early because everyone else will be looking for a summer job, too. Use your contacts. Knowing someone will greatly increase your child’s chances. Know that many large corporations such as JCrew require employees to be 18 or older. But when your child is old enough these jobs can have a benefit. Merchandisers often employ “seasonal” associates on holiday breaks when they return home from college. This has been very convenient for my daughter who always has an …
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It’s Never Too Late to Bond With Your Teen
Last summer we lost Gidget, the only dog my children have ever known. She died like she lived always trying to please all of us. She waited for Megan and Grant to get home and with the whole family gathered around her, we watched her leave. It was the sweetest thing, we loved her so and she so faithfully loved us. None of us could stand it. Something was missing in our home. But, Mark, refused to allow us to get another dog. He wouldn’t even talk about it. We were traveling more with two children grown, two away at school and only one left at home. We needed to be free to travel. For Marky and I it was tough to be home without Gidget. It all started innocently enough, just a little after school dog browsing on the internet. Then one day we impulsively decided to take a drive up to the Humane Society. We went back the next week. The puppies all went fast it seemed. The next week we met Katie and we knew we would have to act fast. Marky bought her. Mark was already home from work when we pulled in the drive. …
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Pray or Panic? What Do You Do?
Confession… My go-to answer is panic, not prayer. In a tough situation, I’ll have a good cry, but then, as the tears subside, my mind takes off as if it’s in a NASCAR race, around and around and around, but not in a good way. (click to tweet) Every circle around the track is a different scenario of the situation, in a thousand shades of depressing gray. I overreact in fear. Fear, worry, anxiety and panic are not the solution, but prayer is. Prayer is the only guaranteed panic prevention. It is OK to have a good cry, but we can’t allow that grief and concern to convert to fear. We must cap off the panic and download all our passion into fervent prayer. (click to tweet) It is not easy to choose to be still in prayer and resist spinning into action of some sort. It is still hard for me. My friend, Jodie Berndt’s books below really helped me to learn to pray proactively. These Passionate Mom printables (click on the printable) are less detailed than Jodie’s books but will get you started on your way to being …
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The Parenting Roller Coaster
An excerpt from The Passionate Mom: Life comes with problems, and so do children. There will always be struggles and opposition to your efforts, days and even weeks when you just can’t seem to get ahead of the onslaught. Little children have little problems, and bigger children can have bigger problems. All five of my children are within six years of one another—I know it’s crazy, but I never planned to adopt two children the same ages as two of my biological children. Then they grew, and I had five teenagers all at one time…
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What Is Your Real Passion?
An excerpt from The Passionate Mom Chapter 7 – Purpose Passion + Purpose = A Plan These three—passion, purpose, and planning—have a special relationship and, it starts with passion. Without passion you won’t have the drive to develop a purpose, and if you don’t ever find a purpose, you surely won’t see the need to have a plan. …
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