When we were little, we all enjoyed playing the game of Tag. We’d run barefoot through the grass, laughing and trying to “tag” anyone we could. Tagging them meant passing on responsibilities, taking turns being it. Now that we’re all grown up, we aren’t as likely to be found running around and screaming in our front yard. But who says the game of Tag has to end when we become parents? Today on my husbands blog I discuss 3…
Over the years, we’ve said many things to our kids… From “Time to wake up, sweetheart” to “Time for bed.” From “You lost your first tooth!” to “You lost your homework, again?” From “Shhh, Mommy’s trying to sleep” to “Shhh, it’s okay, honey.” The thing we dread saying the most, but the one thing we eventually have to say to our kids, is goodbye. But before saying goodbye to your teen, be sure they are ready by sharing these 3 simple truths…
I have to smile when I hear people talk about blended families. “Every family is blended!” I think to myself. When you take a man and a woman from two different families, and they get married – boom! You have a blended family. My family became even more blended when we adopted two children. And though blending can be beautiful, it can also bring new challenges. In her new book, Uncommon Marriage, my friend Lauren Dungy shares how blending her…
I learned early on in my childhood that tantrums never got me what I wanted. Growing up, I remember the time my mom took us kids to the grocery store with her to pick a few things up. Halfway down the first aisle, my 4 year old brother began to pitch a fit over wanting a box of cereal that we didn’t need. Well as soon as my mom said no, he started crying and screaming at the top…
I was really conflicted when I saw this. Could this be real? Yet, last summer I found my seventeen year old playing an online video game on his laptop that had been produced in China. It looked very similar to the game shown in this video. The game had levels that could only be accessed in certain ways, with skill or money–real money. Of course, skill would only take you so far, you needed money to go farther. I did…
This year, what can we invest in that will never fade? The answer is sitting in your lap, pulling at your shirt, looking up at you with their sweet, puppy eyes: your children. Building relationships with your kids is something that truly matters. Here’s one of several stories that I’ve received as the director of iMOM about lives that have been impacted: “Hi I’m Grace, and I’m an iMOM Morning Leader. iMOM morning has been instrumental in helping ramp…
Sometimes when I look back on a year like this last one, a startling reality washes over me. I become painfully aware of how little control I have over life, especially the lives of my children. In these moments, the mom in me panics, like a woman at the edge of a precipice fighting the urge to look down, as if not looking means I am not there. But I am there. I can’t be assured that I can save…