How to Pray With Your Children
It’s another rainy day here. We started the morning by loading up the car with supplies for a project my daughter is working on at school. This included two very large boxes, craft supplies, paper, markers… all of this along with her backpack, raincoat (oh, wait she forgot that) and lunch box. As I approached the school, I could see the carline was backed up into the parking lot. Ugh. Really? and all this rain… I hadn’t even had coffee yet. 😐 As we pulled into the school my daughter asked me… “Mom, I’m feeling overwhelmed – can we pull over and pray?” Me: Wow. “Sure, we can do that.” And so we did. We sat…
How to Raise Your Child’s Emotional Intelligence
Last Saturday I spent the day with a 6-year old while my son went to a sleepover and my husband was out of town. We went to a festival in the city and then came home for an evening together which included sushi, painting fingernails, popcorn, and a short TV show. Now, I’m NOT a big TV person. It’s just not my thing however since I didn’t pick up a movie I decided we could watch one show. We scroll through Netflix and finally agree on a cooking show. It was one of the shows where they find the WORSE COOKS in America. In this particular show, each contestant gets…
English Muffin Meltdown {Story}
How a few simple shifts changed behavior We all know that kids can have meltdowns when things don’t go their way. This morning was yet another one of those days. The kids were out of school and I had just started to make breakfast when my daughter came into the kitchen. She immediately saw what I was making and before I could even turn around she screamed in horror. “I HATE English Muffins!” Wow. Really? Who hates English muffins. only.my.daughter. Immediately after screaming she ran to the pantry and grabbed a box of cereal. Just then my husband walked in and said, “We just had English muffins and now you don’t…
It was a Thursday afternoon and I had just received a call from school regarding my child’s behavior.
Really? I love my children but the behavior issues are emotionally and physically exhausting. And this was not the first time I have been notified of issues. There’s a long list of getting “the call.” But the first time was epic and horrible. I was a new mother and I had just put my son into a fancy new preschool. He was about a week in and the school called to inform me that he was biting other children. Really? We don’t bite at home. And it wasn’t just once. He continued to bite and they continued to call. Horrified. I finally had to take him out of the school.…
How to Deal with Drama? {The Interview…}
It’s Christina here. I hope this finds your summer going well. We have been in the midst of some hurdles and challenges, but moving through them with some pretty amazing results. Do you ever get to the point of extreme exhaustion as a parent? If so, you’re not alone. I call it, Parent Fatigue. You see, this summer the drama has intensified with my seven-year-old. We went from seven-year-old to 17-years-old just like that. And with the drama comes a lot of highs, lows, and exhaustion. I don’t do drama. I never have and I’m pretty sure I never will. Now, just because I don’t…
Why My Parenting Style Was NOT Working
Years ago, I was deep in the struggles of parenting a defiant, actively independent, boundary pushing toddler. The days were endless and I could barely scrape up enough patience to get myself out the door in the morning with children in tow. If you’ve been there, you get it. If you haven’t, use your imagination. It was the holiday season and I was feeling anything but joyful. I actually felt pretty hopeless. Maybe it was the endless nights awake with my daughter or perhaps the daily episodes of tantrums and hitting when it came to brushing her teeth. All I knew was that something had to change. Not only with my kids but also in my life. I wanted…
How a ‘Cherokee Legend’ Changed My Parenting
The first time I heard this Cherokee Legend, I was shaken by the words… I recently returned home from a roadtrip that pushed every button, boundary and the two wolves. It was a planned trip to visit my husband who has been working out of town since October. I spent 10 days traveling with two children, living in a small hotel room, in a small South Carolina town. You can imagine, right? Oh, yes “REGRET” was in full swing by the time I crossed the Florida/Georgia border. I thought to myself…”Why did I think this was a good idea? I should have called my MIL to fly in and…
How to get your teen to open up and talk to you?
Wish your teen would open up and talk more? Getting your teen to open up and talk can be challenging. Take a moment and think back to a time when you were a teenager. Can you recall a “fun” memory? Can you remember the details? Was it your first day of high school, your first car, your 16th birthday, or your first kiss? How about a “not-so-good” memory? Can you remember those details? Maybe your first car wreck, failed a finals test, or a blind date that went terribly bad? Now, how about a time when you felt misunderstood by one of these incidents? Maybe you made a not-so-good…
The Lesson in Aisle 5…
Parenting is hard. Why doesn’t anyone call it for it is? Last week I was walking through the grocery with my 6 and 8 year old when a teachable moment presented itself in a not so shiny wrapper. The kids and I were headed down the frozen food section and immediately they took off for the open freezers. My daughter starts squealing with excitement about the cold ice crystals she’s scraping off the metal vents in the freezer. Living in Florida we rarely get opportunities to scrape ice off of anything. “Icees,” she shouts with excitement. They both continue scraping off little ice pieces while dodging customers. Here we go. It’s the simple things, right? I…
5 Tips for Raising Respectful Confident Kids
If you could meet your child as an adult what kind of qualities would you like to see in him/her? I love this question. It gets you thinking about your role as a parent and helps you identify what values you want to instill in your child. 1.) Model Respect. This starts with you, the parent. Your kids may not always listen to what you say but they will model what you do. If you want confident kids, model and teach confidence with them. And if you desire respectful kids, model respect with them and with others. If you are hoping for an emphatic child, model empathy with them and others. …
