Top 5 New Year Parenting Goals for a Happy Life

Top 5 New Year Parenting Goals for a Happy Life

As singles make vows of getting fit and staying healthy this New Year, couples around the world are wondering what they can do to be better parents in 2019.
When it comes to parenthood, there is a whole world of options and plenty of New Year’s resolutions for becoming better moms and dads. Are you thinking about what goals you can make this year to be the best parents possible? Here are 5 pieces of parenting advice you can’t afford to miss. Read More

What I’m Learning About Finding My Village

takes a village

I want to boldly confess something important that I’m learning as I grow: that what is more important than how I feel is being an active part of a community. I will continue to extend invitations to fill our guest room and table with those in our growing village. Although I may still have to fight the deeply ingrained cultural mindset that says if I’m uncomfortable then I won’t do it, I will do so because of the long-term benefits, for both my family unit and those who are a part of our lives. Read More

Life in the Comments Section: Why Facebook Discussions Are Important

Facebook discussions

The internet exposes us almost immediately to swaths of people who aren’t in our immediate circle of influence. There is a greater chance of diversity; racial, gender, economic, political, religious, and otherwise. I truly believe that it could be, that it is, a way that our world can further come together in understanding and mediation, if we let it. Read More

Women, Why Do We Cut Each Other Down?

women cut down

I would bet that there aren’t many of us who haven’t suffered at the hands of other women. Whether it be in the workplace, within your family unit, or in the preschool carpool line, I know that few are exempt from this behavior. I have vivid memories of bullying and intentional hurt that I still carry with me, even from nearly two decades ago. My guess is that this isn’t uncommon. Read More

Slaying My Productivity Monster: Why I Don’t Want to be Busy

busyness

I say “no” to mom guilt. I have never given it a foothold in my parenting and won’t start now, with this. Busyness will not steal my joy, and I won’t stand for it robbing me of precious time with my family. And, most of all, I won’t let my actions teach my children that busyness is a status symbol or a value to hold dear. Read More

To My Second Child: I’m Sorry You Were Kicked in the Face

Second Child

Your life has brought us such delight and joy in many of the same ways your sister’s did, but with one exception: we realize, now, how fast it all goes, and that is powerful. I have no desire to speed your growing up, or to launch you headlong into your next milestone. I know that all too soon you’ll be calling me Mama and tearing through our house on your own two feet. That you won’t lay heavy and soft in my arms, reliant on my comfort, in the wee hours of the morning. Read More

The Gift of Young Marriage

young marriage

I don’t at all buy into the idea of needing something to compare your relationship to so you “know what you like”. When it is glaringly obvious that you make one another happy, that you compliment one another, and that you value similar things; When you seek the wise counsel of others in your lives who approve; count the gravity of your commitment, and count yourself blessed to have found someone worth pledging yourself to for life. Read More

Three Things I Wasn’t Expecting to Grieve in the Midst of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss

I am incredibly grateful that we live in an age where pregnancy loss is being de-mystified. Although there are many things about it that still aren’t understood, it’s talked about. It’s a discussion. More and more women feel comfortable coming out of the woodwork and saying, “Yes, we have lost children,” or, “We are having trouble getting pregnant.” I know I say this phrase a lot, but it’s healing, and writing about things that are healing is, in a way, my purpose. Read More