It’s my favorite time of year again. The leaves have changed and are at their peak. There is a sugar maple tree on the south side of our house that is glorious…
Parenting
Ten Tips for Raising Kids Who Don’t Rebel
While there is no fail-proof recipe for raising kids who don’t rebel, here are 10 tips for parenting in a manner that encourages mutual respect, emotional attunement, and healthy boundaries….
Gratitude 101
Five boys. Five loud, active boys with their own unique personalities and preferences. Personal tastes, too. So at dinner a week or two ago, several of them expressed those preferences…
Mamas, Help Your Boys Grow Into Men
This past summer I spent a few days with my 15-year-old son, my sister, and her kids at our family cabin at the lake. While my sister and I were…
Helping Kids Understand, Recognize, and Face Temptation
A tearful friend recently shared about her child’s struggle with an issue. Her face fell as she relayed how her child had succumbed to temptation. My heart broke for the…
A Note for You on the Day You Blow It
We’ve all had them. Sometimes you can see them coming, as if watching a sippy cup of red juice fall on someone else’s beige, suede sofa in slow-mo. Maybe you…
Fall is Here … and that Means Wardrobe Changes
I used to look forward to the first nip in the air, the first leaves on the ground, the first browning of the cactus (I grew up in the desert),…
Living in a Cracker Box
Sometimes I feel like I’m living in the bottom of an old cracker box—full of crumbs and cracker dust. Seriously, everywhere I look is a preponderance of dust and dog…
The Angry Mom
One of my biggest struggles and now regrets as a younger mom, was my anger. After years of bottling up the anger and stress of a failed marriage and nasty…
Do We Know What “Right” Is?
Have you ever not known if something was right or wrong? The importance of knowing came home to me when I took our grandchildren bowling. As the electronic scoreboard tallied…