Low Expectations: A Key to Christmas Happiness
Expectations rarely run higher than they do at Christmas. From what to give to what to serve to the pressure to host well, expectations hover just beyond reach of achievability for most of us. A few years ago I was listening to a speaker who was talking about...
Why I Have No Plans to “Let Them Be Little”
You hear it a lot . . . Let them be little. It’s a sentiment so perfectly nostalgic and sweet, I totally get why it’s a favorite parenting mantra and a consistently trending #hashtag. Only, when it comes to parenting my three daughters, I have no plans to “let them be...
Don’t Miss the True Story of Christmas
There are certain times in the year that just go by faster than others.
Christmas is one of them.
There is so much going on from the time we clean up the turkey to when we take down the tree that if we’re not intentional, the big day can come and go and we will have missed the true story of Christmas.
10 Reasons Having Kids is Awesome
It’s easy to focus on all the negatives involved with having kids. They’re . . . inconvenient, selfish, messy, unpredictable, irrational, and one of the most expensive investments you’ll ever make. Raising kids is tough—that’s for sure. But it’s not all bad. In fact,...
4 Tips to Surviving Family Holiday Gatherings
This time of year really is my favorite. Starting with football and Thanksgiving dinner, then watching kids as the magic of Christmas begins to invade every bit of space in their world, it’s easy to fall in the love with the wonder of the holiday season. But as...
Words of Wisdom
There I sat, probably with slumped shoulders at this point. Mind totally saturated with gallons of new information, dates, deadlines, fees, dos and don’ts. I had already made a dozen mental to-do lists for the coming weeks, all while still processing the fact that I...
Finding Out Your Child Has Autism
The day I discovered I was pregnant with our first child was one of the happiest days of my life. My husband and I had been married for three years and were ready to expand our party of two. My pregnancy was a healthy one, and I was thrilled about our next stage of...
How to Coach Friendship in the Preschool Years
Making friends and keeping them are important life skills. Just like learning to walk, talk, self-feed, and potty-train, there are steps that babies, toddlers, and preschoolers will master as they learn the skill of making and keeping friends. It takes a long time to...
How to Make Good Memories Without Grumpy Side Effects
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. We’re on the cusp of all things holiday and fun. The festivals. The fairs. The pumpkin patches. And the promise for more parties and holiday spectaculars just around the corner. It’s the kick off to a magical—if not...
What I Learned About Having The TALK
If you haven’t read THE TALK – Part 1, I would recommend you check it out before reading further. The Talk - Part 1 Recently, I had THE TALK with my third-grade daughter. Do you guys remember the TV show Blossom? It aired in the 90’s on NBC and dealt with issues like...
Should You Make Your Older Kids Go To Church?
I recently read an article about a family who loved to hike. Actually, not all of them loved it. One son shared how every weekend, rain or shine, he was forced to put on his hiking shoes (yes, forced) and he was loaded into the family car for what he described as a...
Be as Brave as Your Kid
One night, while driving home from youth group, my oldest daughter came up with an idea. “Dad, tomorrow, I’m going to ask my English teacher if I can use her coffee pod machine.” As teens are known to do, L.E. has developed a taste for coffee. Apparently, getting up...