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mess up, mom? 5 steps for starting over
I don’t like making mistakes. It is part of my (recovering) perfectionistic nature. I want to get it right the first time. You might guess then that motherhood has been a wee bit challenging for me. As...
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3 gifts our kids miss when life’s too easy
It was the thing that worried me the most while I was gone. Somehow, my husband and I had managed to get out of town for a few days recently. My dad was staying with the kids. And I knew he’d take...
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how to earn the respect of your strong-willed child
One of the greatest gifts that God ever gave me is my strong-willed kids. Now I didn’t always think so. As a people pleaser (now recovering), I spent many years just wanting them to be “good.” I didn’t...
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are you a people-pleasing parent?
I hate conflict. For years, I considered this a virtue. Or at the very least, not a problem. I was the peacemaker. Rarely rocked the boat. Gave in rather than cause a fuss. I was a nice Christian girl....
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unmasking the blessings of middle school
If there ever was a blessing in disguise, its name is Middle School. I mean, this particular blessing is seriously incognito. Definitely well hidden in the Blessing Witness Protection Program. When I...
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how exercising self-control benefits our families
“I need you to be calm.” My daughter — 14 at the time — and I were having a heated exchange. I can’t even remember what it was about. During those early teen years, we had a lot of “heated”...
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walking in our shoes: our role in shaping children
It struck me like a bolt of lightning. I had left my shoes at the door like I always did. (For some insane reason, we had bought white carpeting for our first house. A pre-kids decision we regretted...
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whose homework is it anyway?
It was Molly’s first science fair project. But she was only in third grade. She clearly needed a lot of guidance, especially since it was her first one and all. So from the very beginning, I was so...
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sometimes doing nothing is best for kids
My mother is right. Gosh, I hate that. After a conversation recently with my mom (more of a pity party for me that she graciously listens to), she said something that has stuck in my head all week....
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