Today, I welcome guest blogger Collene of Rest and Chaos to share how she handles uncomfortable conversations about her past with her kids. “That person is smoking,” my son announced, “and that’s bad.” “You used to smoke, too, didn’t you Mommy?” my daughter questioned. A wave of regret washed over my heart as I replied, […]
Parenting
Three Steps to a Successful Apology
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 Getting kids to take responsibility for their actions and offer a sincere apology is one of our greatest challenges as parents. It’s not enough for a child to say, “I’m sorry,” especially when coerced to do so. More […]
5 Ways to Connect with Your Teenage Son
“Sons are a heritage from the Lord.” Psalm 127:3 You’ve probably noticed that “How was your day?” isn’t getting you anywhere with the man-child in your home. You miss the chubby arms that once wrapped themselves fiercely around your neck after a day at school. Hugs and “I love you”s don’t come so readily anymore, […]
Where Did the Time Go?
I worked through the 2018 family budget this evening, assigning values to line items like birthdays, outings, holidays, etc. By each birthday, I listed out the ages my children will turn this year- 15,13,11,10,7- and then stared at the numbers in disbelief. Where did the time go? Time is Flying By How is it possible […]
How I Starved My Children
When I went into labor with my first child three weeks early, our plans for a home birth went out the window. We rushed to the hospital, where I gave birth to a boy who weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz and was having some respiratory difficulty. The NICU doctor whisked him away, and I found […]
The Highs and Lows of Sugar-Free, Plant-Based Eating . . . With Kids
Today, it has been exactly two weeks since I began my sugar detox. I guess I can’t really call it a detox anymore, though. It is now slowly becoming a way of life for me. No one is more surprised than I am that I have made it this long without more than 20 grams […]
How to Survive a Sugar Detox, Day 4- How Much Sugar Can I Have?
I started this detox on a whim, with no specific strategy, other than the determination to be free of sugar’s addictive hold on my body. Four days in and several Google searches later, I am beginning to see that there are countless ways to approach a sugar detox. Today, I began researching just which route […]
How to Hold onto Vacation After Coming Home
Our family just returned from a week-long vacation to the Northwoods of Wisconsin where we attended family camp at Fort Wilderness for our fourth year. It was wonderful! The weather was perfect, the speaker delivered timely messages, and I spent time with God in prayer and Bible reading everyday- for the first time in months. […]
Why Is It So Hard to Say No?
Last fall, I wrote a post entitled Why I Said No to Organized Sports. It seemed like such an easy choice then, taking my older boys out of their secondary sports to free up our schedule for their younger siblings to play soccer. After my son’s Crohn’s diagnosis in December, we made the more difficult […]
How to Encourage (and Enjoy) Your Child’s Independence
(I am taking a break from our 26 Steps to Simplicity series to bring you this post. It still falls within the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, though: E is for Encourage.) I’m sitting here at the library, attempting to create an editorial calendar for my blog, while my four-year old daughter enjoys her […]