Yep, the reality is its your mombligation to teach manners. And with all the reality TV out there if you don’t teach manners you can be assured your child will not catch them from our culture. Am I being harsh? Remember this is just me (or my opinion) and it is my observation that much of reality TV is often focused on rude, mannerless people. You may have found a show or two that are paragon examples of civility but chances are those…
Unless they are ready. I have taught three children to drive. It is not my favorite thing to teach. Not because my kids weren’t good drivers. No, I don’t enjoy it because it is contrary to my every instinct, as a mom, to put my child in a dangerous situation. And driving is dangerous! But, it is a part of life and we can’t sweat it. But we can think about it real hard! So, I did. Here is what…
Of course! But it isn’t always easy. Every child needs a friend but not every child is good at making or keeping friends. My friend Lauren Dungy has a tender and passionate heart for teaching and reaching children. She lives this out with her own children as the mother of seven! Recently, she began putting precious lessons that her family has learned about loving others in print. Her new children’s book You Can Be a Friend is a beautifully and…
I was asked today how I handled makeup with my girls. Here are my thoughts: 1. Talk about it way before they want it. 2. Play together with makeup (emphasis on together). Girls like makeup. When you play, use soft pretty colors so they will start to see the beauty in a more natural look. Put the dark stuff away so it is not even a choice. 3. Praise their natural beauty so they develop confidence in themselves without makeup.…
Tackling tough subjects really starts at age two. Let me explain, because I see this all the time. It’s cold and a two-year-old doesn’t want to wear a sweater. She pitches a fit and her mom gives in. Ten years later, the two-year-old is now twelve and doesn’t want to wear more than six inches of clothes. Mom wants her to wear more but the daughter pitches a fit. Chances are the daughter will win. “It’s just clothes,” you might…
We have the strangest of birth orders in my family. It has made life interesting. My husband and I started with an oldest (girl), middle (girl) and baby (boy) for nine years. Then we adopted a firstborn (girl) the same age as my middle—literally two weeks apart in age, and a first born boy, but middle child, the same age as my biological first born male baby! Are you confused? So were my kids. Looking back it was a comical…
Sometimes, moms just have this nagging sense that something is not ringing true, but they can’t act on it because they don’t know what it is. Three of my children were/are prone to lying. One child lied out of pride. If she did something wrong she would be so ashamed she would rather lie than admit it. Her lying was fairly easy to address. When she was little, if she lied to cover up something we would sit down with…