Why Your Daughter Needs You to be Comfortable in Your Own Skin

After years of wearing my hair short, I am growing it out. At times I don’t recognize the woman in the mirror or pictures. Recently while looking at family pictures with one of the girls, I made a negative comment about how my hair looked. My daughter scolded me (in […]

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How One Question is Changing My Life

  A few weeks ago after I started using the 5 Prompts, I came across the above video of a social experiment college kids did in New York City. They placed a large chalkboard on a sidewalk and wrote “Write Your Biggest Regret:” at the top. As people walked by […]

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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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Will Your Kids Be Ready for Real Life?

Recently I went to a friend’s house for a long overdue coffee talk. I greeted her young teen daughter. “She just got up,” her mom explained when she responded with a sleepy “Hi.” “Summer is a great time to go at a slower pace and relax,” I tried to empathize […]

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Building Lifelong Motivation in Your Kids

  “I’m pretty sure if we power wash my car the bottom of it will fall off,” predicted Kerry when Gene mentioned using his new power washer on her car yesterday. She was probably right. We bought very used, but safe cars for our teen girls. Kerry names hers Howie. […]

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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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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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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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