Raising Confident Kids

Before you read this blog, watch this precious one-minute video by Legos. Legos Commercial   When I first saw this commercial I thought, Is this what our culture has come to where parents need to be told their kids need time to play without their help! A parent’s need to […]

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Tough Love for Moms

Hey, ya’ll, I know I can be hard on you sometimes. I often tell you to put on your big girl panties and deal with whatever your kids are up to. I tell you to be the adult in the situation and keep moving forward. But I also feel your […]

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Having Influence in My Kids’ Lives

If I had to chose a word to describe my life this year, it would be transition. As you know, two of our daughters are getting married and our first grandchild will arrive in August. As a result my relationship with our girls is changing. Transition and change can be […]

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When Your Kid is Living a Decision You Don’t Agree With

    Maybe you like me find yourself in yet another situation where your young adult child is making and living a decision you don’t agree with. He put on his I-will-have-my-way super hero costume and flew off to his adventure. Only it’s not a good adventure. He is not […]

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Mom and Dad, It’s Not All About You

  “How did you know you could go home and your parents wouldn’t say, ‘I told you so?’”, I asked my dear, thirtyish friend. My friend had been the proverbial wild child during her graduate school years. Her relationship with her parents during that time was almost nonexistent due to […]

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Loving Our Kids at Their Messiest

  Two weddings and a baby! Yes, our family is having a big year. Our oldest and youngest daughters are getting married within 5 months of each other and our middle daughter and son-in-law are expecting their first child in August. One of the weddings will be in our backyard, […]

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Be the Calm, Sane Parent

I first posted this blog in the summer of 2013. It is a topic for which I need continual encouragement. No matter the age of our kids we cannot ride their emotional roller coasters. Rereading this blog challenged to be the mom my kids need. I pray it will challenge […]

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Being the Parent that Stays Relevant in Your Kid’s Life

   At the beginning of a parent’s journey with the child making decisions they don’t agree with, parents want to believe that in a reasonable amount of time their child will return to “normal” and life will be good again. When that doesn’t happen, parents can lose hope and revert […]

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Perspective and Help when Your Kid is Stuck

  My phone has been “blowing up” recently (cool talk for ringing a lot). My girls are in the midst of major life transitions. They usually don’t call every day or sometimes every week, but lately they are in need of a little mom-perspective. But way-back-when in Katie’s prodigal days […]

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Being the Mom of (almost) Grown Kids

I shared this story with a group I’m part of on Facebook. We’re a group of moms whose kids are venturing out into the world—maybe for the first time, maybe forever leaving the nest, or maybe circling back home after a time away. This story resonated with them and I […]

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