My seven and five year old kids fight over the silliest things…and they try to pull me into their battles at the worst times. They expect me to be super-hero-mom and save the day. It doesn’t matter if I’m on the phone, finishing an email, taking hot food out of the oven, driving,…
When I got serious about reaching my goal of at least 75 contributors to this Series, I did some hunting. I was originally searching for ideas for images to make for the Series. In doing so, I found some sites that seemed to focus on exactly what I wanted to do. I decided…
Mamahood is the piecing together of a puzzle. Each piece giving us a bigger picture of Jesus. Of his grace and mercy and love. With each passing season and newly formed stories, our reflection grows closer to his. Embracing the imperfection as a mom is the place in mamahood where transformation takes place and dependence…
There are so many valuable lessons to be learned in motherhood. Among the most important for myself is to find the humor in all the crazy. I really don’t want to be the mom who walks around looking like she’s been weaned on a pickle. Even God’s word says that “A cheerful heart is good…
When my kids were little, I always kept them close by me whenever we’d go out anywhere. We’d make a trip to Walmart and if they were not contained in the cart, I constantly had a hand on them. I’d hold their hands when we walked down the street. I was momma bear when it…
Show me a perfect mom, and you’ll show me someone who’s hiding. Mistakes, pain, shame, guilt, vulnerability, depression, rage, a past…She’s hiding something, I promise you. Not one of us is perfect, even if that’s what we portray. We’ve all been there at one time or another. Feeling way less than perfect. Inadequate….
I’m sure you all know that song from childhood, Oh, be careful little eyes what you see, Oh, be careful little eyes what you see, For the Father up above is looking down in love, So be careful little eyes what you see. I’m pleased to be able to have a guest spot on my…
Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing my review copy. Thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation, though I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. An awkward subject Opening a discussion about purity with my eleven and a half year…
Every day, I make mistakes with my kids. It could be a pretty good day with one little mistake, but often, I yell too loudly and too much, lose my patience too often, and just act like a complete fool. On those days, I can completely blow it. I don’t treat my kids in a…
Dear Walgreens Employee/Manager(?), I understand my children were behaving unruly in your store yesterday. I understand that they may have not put all the toys back where they belonged in the toy aisle, I understand that they were being noisy and disruptive. I am truly sorry if we made anyone’s job harder or anyone’s shopping…
One day at work, I (Jerry) passed a co-worker and she asked absently, “How’s it going?” It was clear that she was in a bit of a hurry to get wherever it was she was going and wasn’t really looking for a detailed answer. She was just trying to be polite. But feeling a bit…
We need to prepare our children to stay strong in an ungodly world, and to possibly even face persecution. It saddens me to even have to put this among the list of parenting advice/suggestions. Five years ago, I never would have thought that there would be a need to write something like this. But sadly,…
I have found this particular tip, by far, to be the hardest one to try to put into words, but I’ll do my best. I also know that this one may be rather controversial. As with everything I am posting, please make your parenting decisions in light of Scripture. What’s wrong with self-righteous attitudes? The…
This one is short (surprise!!) and simple. A lot of things can be really cute at age three, or even up to about age eight or ten, but they are downright annoying and disrespectful at age twelve, twenty, or forty. Just to be clear, I am NOT talking about normal childish behavior in areas where…
We want to instill in our children a desire to be grateful for the many blessings that God has given them. Not only will they have a more joyful life, but contentment pleases God. God hates complaining. To know how much He hates it, all we have to do is observe how God responded to…
Pray for your children, and pray for them often. Not only do Jeff and I pray for our children during our personal devotion time, but also as the Lord brings them to mind, throughout the day. When I catch myself worrying about one of my children, I try (key word) to pray about the specific thing…
It is important to help and encourage our children to become each other’s best friends. Next to their future spouse, ideally their siblings will always be their best friends. When your children get into an argument or fight, help them work through their disagreements. Ask them questions like: “How could you have responded in…
Parenting Tip Number Six Guard your children’s friendships carefully. If you see that every time they spend time with a certain friend they are disrespectful to you, mean to their siblings, more prone to gossip, and are drawing away from the Lord instead of closer to Him, perhaps it is time to end that friendship….
When I saw the title Never Say No: Raising Big Picture Kids, I thought, “Oh, great. A book about child-centered parenting, where the kids run the home.” But then I saw it was written by Mark and Jan Foreman, who are parents of Jon and Tim Foreman, of the Christian band Switchfoot. I don’t know…
Parenting Tip Number Four As parents, we will sometimes make mistakes (gasp!!). In fact there will be times when we outright sin against our child. We can lose our tempers, be impatient, say hurtful things and sin against our children in various ways. (Ephesians 6:4 – And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath:…
Parenting Tip Number Three We need to really, truly listen to our children and teenagers. Obviously, they should speak respectfully, but our children, of any age, should feel free to come to us and share anything that is on their heart. They should be able to share any doubts, any fears, any worries, any joys…
I have my very first guest post in a series! I’m super excited! It’s on Sarah’s My Joy-filled Life. I’m thrilled that Sarah has graciously allowed me to post on her site for her third year of The ABCs of Homeschooling Series. I chose the letter “J” (imagine that?!) and came up with “Just do…
I hope you were able to read Tip Number One from yesterday. It lays the foundation for this tip. Parenting Tip Number Two Make the Bible the center of your family’s life. Simple ways to incorporate it: Read the Bible and pray every day together as a family. As soon as your children can read,…
Introduction Hi, I’m Kim. I’ve been married to my best friend, Jeff, since 1987. We have five children, Joshua (1992) who has been married to Alissa since 2013, Joseph (1995), Josiah (1997), Jessica (1998), and Jennifer (2001). I’m a full time stay at home, homeschooling mom. I need to preface these parenting tips I’m posting…
