Unplug to plug in ... it sounds so simple, doesn't it? Why is it so hard? How Does Your Day Begin? Beep, beep beep...It's 5:30 am....I hit the snooze button on my iPhone. 15 minutes later, I turn the alarm off and roll out of bed. Creep down the stairs ever so quietly. Start my coffee. Plop on the couch. Check the weather on my ...
31 ways to be a better mom
Day 31 Learning To Let Go
"Bye! Have fun!" I yelled with my happiest smile plastered on my face. "I'll be back in a few hours to pick you up. Love you bunches!" Hannah looked back briefly to wave but quickly turned her attention to her friends in the car, on their way out to eat for her friend's birthday party. No big deal for most parents maybe but a HUGE one for me. This was the ...
Day 30 Tell Your Kids You Are A Failure
"I stink at this!" I yell across the room at my oldest as she's crying on her bed and I'm standing at the door. The red handprint on her bare hip is glistening, almost screaming at me to remind me what an awful mom I am. Let me tell you, I don't need the reminder. Hannah is only 3 and in a particularly trying day, she has not been listening at all. The final straw came ...
Day 29 You Cannot Buy Their Happy
Kids ask for a LOT of "things" don't they? Toys, games, movies, candy! It's at the store, on tv, in Sunday's paper. THINGS are everywhere aren't they? And they want a piece of it...that happiness, that joy, that whatever the crap is being promised to them on tv once they have that.one.extra.thing. Real life is kinda like that too isn't it? I mean, we think once ...
Day 28 Quit Trying To Be That Other Mom
So you’re reading this blog series to BE a better mom right? Well, for starters, you need to quit trying to be that other mom. You know, the perfect mom you think you know. We all know the perfect mom. I mean, don't we??! The one whose hair is always perfect and outfit always matches. The one whose kids are always perfectly behaved with yes ...
Day 27 Be A Good Daughter
Want to know how to be a better mom? Start with Day 27 Be A Good Daughter. To truly raise our children with love and direction, we should look back on our own mother's efforts to do the same thing. Whether she did it "wrong" or "right", you can still be a "good" daughter. So it's almost Halloween and both my girls' brain power has been funneled almost exclusively to thoughts of ...
Day 25 You Don’t Have To Love Your Kids The Same
Loving your kids equally but uniquely is the basis for Day 25 You Don't Have To Love Your Kids The Same. Because our kids ARE different - in attitude, aptitude and appearance. Why would we think it's okay to love them the same? "You love Sara more than me!" "Anna NEVER does anything wrong...I guess I'm just your worst child!" "You never pay me any attention once baby ...
Day 24 Tell Them It WILL Get Better
Mean girls, bullies, acne, fitting in...all those things every child from here to kingdom come has had to endure but Day 24 Tell Them It WILL Get Better reminds me that for MY child...in this very moment...when she has been left out, or made fun of...for her it doesn't matter how many millions of children have endured those same scars. It only matters that she did...today...and that her ...
Day 23 Choose Their Forbidden Fruit Wisely
The most desirable things in life are the ones we just cannot have, so Day 23 Choose Their Forbidden Fruit Wisely reminds me that as moms we need to choose very carefully those rules we enforce for our children. A poorly thought-out plan can back fire, with kids that are 2 or 12! "Don't hang out with those friends." "Don't date that boy." "Don't eat that ...
Day 22 Family Dinner Shminner
We've heard it over and over, but Day 22 Family Dinner Shminner is just a peak inside some of the crazy, unorthodox things we do in our family that buck the normal parenting trends. But the real point is this - the best moms figure out a way to take the "rules" and bend them and mold them to make them actually work for their family. "Always sit down to eat dinner as a family"....I've ...
