Parenting

Entitlement and our Kids, and us

Leave a Comment
Entitlement and our kids.

Living in the entitlement trap We live in a culture that leaves many people believing that having whatever we want will make us happy, or make our lives more comfortable. This belief even extends to what we buy for our children. The issue of entitlement is a big one today, and it is causing many problems throughout our country and I believe even around the world. As parents we often are the ones who are guilty of allowing this way of thinking to impact our children and how they approach their day-to-day lives. We strive the make sure that they have all the same things that the neighbors [Read more...]

Keeping up with the needs of our family

Leave a Comment
Parenting is a tough job, but building communication is vital for helping our children grow.

Early in my life as a mom I heard a Focus on the Family broadcast about large families. I remember thinking I would never be as brave as the woman speaking, she was a mom of 8 I think. (I don't fully remember how many kids she had but it was a huge family in my eyes.) I do remember one thing she said during the broadcast. She said that she would pray each morning that the Lord would give her discernment to know which of her kids needed her the most that day. I have heard those words echoing in my head for a long time. As my own family grew I quickly felt overwhelmed. It seemed as if I was [Read more...]

6 Tips to help the Older Children adjust to Baby

Leave a Comment

Last week I shared a little about how hard it was for some of my kids to manage the transition of bringing a new baby home.  You can find that post here: Preparing Older Children for New Baby This week I am sharing with you some of the tips I learned to help make that transition a little bit easier. As I said last week each child is different, but one thing that is pretty common is that children will have questions. It is our job to answer those questions. My children always had questions. The kids didn't always ask those questions, but it was clear to me afterwards by their body language [Read more...]

Preparing Older Children for New Baby

1 Comment

Preparing Older Children for New Baby Are you expecting a new little bundle? Being pregnant can bring so many fun and exciting things along with it. The movement of the baby, the shopping for little tiny clothes and the packing of that diaper bag can be such a sweet time. With each one of my babies I enjoyed each step of the preparation for their arrival. Pregnancy wasn't always so easy for me, but the getting ready part was fun. When my oldest was born I was not sure what to do as a mom, I was scared and very possessive of this new little baby. I was almost as possessive with each child [Read more...]

8 Steps to Teaching Children to do Chores And FREE Printables.

Leave a Comment

Many Hands Make Light Work I have been working on teaching my children to do chores for some time now. My children really don't like to do their chores. Can you blame them? Who really likes to do chores? I mean really I don't like to do my chores all the time so I can relate to them more than I would like to admit. Yet, we are called to be diligent in our work and not be lazy. Even though we may not like to do the chores that we are all required to do, I am sure that you enjoy the end result as much as I do. Who doesn't love to come home to a house that is neat and tidy? I learned several [Read more...]

Media Choices

2 Comments
What we view on TV impacts how we think, and if we are not careful we are going to fill our hearts with things we shouldn't.

Keeping up Appearances Some time ago my daughters danced with glee while watching a Barbie movie. I do not like Barbie, and was hesitant about letting them watch the silly thing at all. As I watched them get excited, and dance along with the characters on the screen,  and get anxious and nervous as the tension rose, I was reminded why I don't like movies in general. So many movies and stories these days are intended to be emotional manipulators. They want to pull us into the excitement and into the emotional ups and downs so that we become enthralled with the fantasy they are [Read more...]

Ways to Intentionally Love our Kids

Leave a Comment

I live in a busy home. We have 5 kids that are home schooled. That means the kids are here with me most of the time most days. I have the same list of daily chores that have to be done. In addition to the cooking, cleaning, laundry, mopping, errands, grocery shopping and all the other things that must be done by the wife and mommy. How do you find the time to connect with the hearts of your kids in the midst of the business? There is always something to do. There is always a task that needs to be done. Always. So how do we make time to really stop our tasks and see our kids? Here are some [Read more...]

Pain of Motherhood

7 Comments

Do you remember when you first became a mom? I am pretty sure you do. That moment in a woman's life becomes etched onto her very soul. Before my daughter was born I was scared about becoming a mom. I was scared about delivery, and I was just scared. After my daughter was born I was possessive. I struggled when anyone else wanted to hold her. I struggled when anyone else touched her, even my husband. This fierce protective monster appeared that day that I didn't know existed, and at times it is hard to hide its presence. I must admit I was a reluctant mom. Before getting married I believed I [Read more...]

Ideals, Expectations, and Reality

Leave a Comment

This morning I woke up with a lot of ideas for the day and expectations on how I would be a perfect mommy. Then the kids woke up. The reality is a bit messier! I cooked grits, eggs, and oatmeal for breakfast thinking it would be a cozy nice breakfast just me and the kids.  Instead it became more along the lines of chaos.  Littlest one screaming, next one fussy, kids constantly asking for this or that.  "Mommy I want grits and eggs"  "Mommy I don't like eggs"  "Mommy I want eggs but no grits" Oy! my head hurts just thinking about how most of our mornings go. I usually have these ideal [Read more...]

Choosing to Be Intentional

Leave a Comment

This past weekend we watched my sister-in-law graduate from High School. My husband was 15 years old when his little sister was born, and one of the things that attracted me to my man early on was how gentle he was with his baby sister. I can still picture a teenage young man with a little lady on his shoulders. I remember thinking what teenage boy does that? I remember walking around a little lake with a 5 year old girl, watching geese and throwing rocks into the water. I remember playing games with this young lady as she grew older, and watching as she started her homeschooling [Read more...]

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

3 Comments

O Soul are you weary and troubled? No Light in the Darkness you See. There's a light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and Free. Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus Look Full in His wonderful Face. And the Things of Earth will grow strangely Dim In the Light of His Glory and Grace. Through death into life everlasting He passed, and we follow Him there; O’er us sin no more hath dominion For more than conqu’rors we are! His Word shall not fail you, He promised; Believe Him and all will be well; Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell! I really [Read more...]

Ways to Intentionally Love our Kids

Leave a Comment

What things do you do to be more intentional about loving your kids? I live in a busy home. We have 5 kids that are home schooled. That means the kids are here with me most of the time most days. I have the same list of daily chores that everyone has to be done. The cooking, cleaning, laundry, mopping, errands, grocery shopping and all the other things that must be done by the wife and mommy. How do you find the time to connect with the hearts of your kids in the midst of the business? There is always something to do. There is always a task that needs to be done. Always. So how do we make [Read more...]