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mom, patience, how to be patient
Parenting

Confession: I Struggle With Patience

  THE PROBLEM… is me.  I have had innumerable opportunities to learn to be patient.  The reality is conflicting, sometimes I am patient and other times I am not. Patience is an entire chapter in The Passionate Mom  because it is in my top three things I fail at consistently. A PassionateMom has the ability to suppress annoyance when confronted with delay. (click to tweet) Sadly, I don’t.  Patience is a virtue that I have chosen not to value enough to make a…

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Emily leaving for college, hug, tears
Parenting

When Your Child Needs A Hug Not A Lecture

  As a mom I can be a little too passionate about instructing my children on how to be the best they can be.  As a result I often forget that sometimes my kids just need a hug, not a lecture.  This is an excerpt from The Passionate Mom on my failure to listen and respond in a way that is comforting and encouraging to my children: It really helps to remember that you are listening with the purpose of trying to understand…

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emily
Parenting

When Your Child Is Outside The Box

  One of my children definitely lives and dreams outside the box. Her individuality became obvious to me her first week of pre-K. She was sent to the wall twice before the end of the first week. My other children had never been sent to the wall, ever, so I was…panicked! “Honey,” I said, “Merrills don’t get sent to the wall.  What did you do?” Her response the first time was, “Mommy, Arial Mermaid was playing in my head, and…

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how often do you keep your kids waiting
Parenting

The Queen Of In A Minute

  My son is missing from this picture.  His look was a lot more exasperated than the dogs.  He had been waiting for me and waiting for me and waiting for me to go for a ride.  And so were the dogs. You see we don’t own this red Willy but we love him.   And we were on borrowed time.  So my son was rather anxious to make the most of our time before Willy had to go back…

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all aboard the peace train
Parenting

All Aboard the Peace Train…

  I have a friend, Carla – she’s from Birmingham… I tell you that so you can read her words with a Southern accent. One day I happened to call her right after she picked up her carpool, and she had a carful of kids. As I was chatting with her she interrupted our conversation to caution her children. “Hey ya’ll, listen up! I am on the Peace Train today and you are fixin’ to make me get off track.…

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Parenting Susan on TV

How to Ruthlessly Prioritize

Marissa Mayer, former CEO of Google and now the CEO of Yahoo, is making headlines.  After giving birth in August, she spoke at Fortune Magazine’s “Most Powerful Women” dinner and shared the secret of her success: ruthless prioritization. When it comes to her priorities, the 37-year-old CEO says, “For me, it’s God, family, and Yahoo, in that order.” Yahoo’s stock has gone up 18 percent since Mayer took the helm, so perhaps her advice is worth heeding. But how does one ruthlessly…

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Duck Dynasty family tree
Parenting

13 Ways to Keep Your Clan Together: Duck Dynasty Style

  The 10-day Duck Dynasty 2013 countdown begins today!  And the Merrill Men can’t wait. What is it about this clan that made it A&E’s most-watched series?  Why did 6.5 million viewers tune in on December 5th for the season 2 finale?  What makes this somewhat kooky camo-clad clan so cute? family The Robertson clan is a family with traditions.  And those traditions make them unique and give them a point of connection.  And that connection keeps them together.  Season 3…

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