When we, as parents, partner with our local churches we can make an even bigger impact in the spiritual lives of our kids. No, I’m not just saying that because I work in Kids Ministry but because I have stood on the front lines every Sunday for the last ten years watching families come in and out of the church and miss the connecting piece between church and home. Can I speak the truth in love for a minute? Families want us, as the church, to teach their kids about God, His love, His grace, His mercy and His …
5 B’s for Being the “Bad Guy” Moms Sometimes Need to Be
A few weeks ago I posted 5 B’s to a Better Day. Today? 5 B’s for the “Being the Bad Guy” moms need to BE! BE the ONE TO SAY “NO” to UNWHOLESOME TV I remember well when at a gathering, all the kids were going to watch a movie. However, when my husband and I found out the movie that had been turned on, we told our kids, NO. Their same aged friends stayed “tuned in.” We were the “bad guys.” Some adults thought we were silly. We’ve never been sorry for being the “bad guy” and saying NO to …
Technology & your child’s brain development
Our kids will never know what it is to live in an unwired world. We’ve moved from the technology of the light bulb to the microwave, to the CD player, to the answering machine, and now to the mobile phone. Just doing homework research opens Pandora ’s Box of distractions like YouTube and Facebook, for starters. Today, moms find it hard to imagine what kind of tech will be commonplace to our kids when they grow up. Some parents feel overwhelmed by the waves of change and try to shut out the digital invasion. When adults check out, kids miss …
A teachable change of seasons
Tomorrow is the first day of Autumn. We’ll watch the leaves dry up in the waning sunlight, just to be pinched off their twig by a gust of chilly wind and tossed to the ground with a crunch. Winter will follow, with life lurking beneath what appears to be dead. This is the perfect time to help our children understand the truth of life out of death. God has shown us His redemptive plan through His own creation and the change of seasons. Are you ready to watch the show of color that comes with Autumn? This year, do more …
Understanding for unfinished plans
It was my great plan that fizzled out. With one summer left to spend before my sweet girl left home, I chose a book about prayer for the two of us to read together. I would make a deposit in her heart that would bring a return long after she carried her crates to the dorm. But then we went on vacation, she got a job, and I got busy, and somehow, before I knew it, we had to take those crates for college. My good intentions failed, and I was left with a barely read book on prayer. Maybe …
How do I do this mom thing: help for teen moms
The morning was breezy and perfect to be at the park on a hot summer day. Cheyenne and Elijah were at school, leaving me to fill the morning with fun for my youngest Tori—so off the park we went. I parked myself on a bench while she scampered off to her favorite play toy, a rocking dolphin. But a little boy was playing on it. From a distance I watched as Tori approached the boy and waited. Suddenly her little fists shot out and punched the boy. In horror, I quickly grabbed Tori and set her in a time out. …
Treating the doctor’s office dilemma
Every mom knows the dilemma of being in a quiet waiting room with a not-so-quiet child. While other patients nervously occupy themselves with the latest travel magazines, hoping they’ll be called soon, moms do the doctor’s office dance, trying to get their little ones to act like grown-ups. Waiting rooms host people anxiously anticipating procedures ranging from dental fillings to chemo treatments, immunizations to ultra sounds. What do you do with kiddos when you’re in the doctors’ zone? Don’t despair. This trauma is treatable. There are more ways to entertain a child while you wait than just plugging them …
How to be a Parent Teachers Love
Teachers hope and pray they’ll get at least one of “those” parents in their classroom. A sensitive, enthusiastic, flexible parent has the potential to make all the difference in a teacher’s year and, as a result, in a child’s year too. Prize parents don’t brown nose in hopes of scoring top grades for their child or the lead role in the Thanksgiving play, but they see themselves as an educator’s resource able to lift a teacher’s load and support their school. You may not find “Awesome Parent” on the teacher’s supply list, but every educator longs to receive the gift …
when it is time to rest
It seems that our bodies are made to go on strike even when we don’t want them to. We are too busy, too much is going on for our bodies to sit and say “I’m done. I need rest.” But, against our will to keep going, doing, and being, our bodies declare that it is time to stop. Last week, three hundred kids gathered at my church to attend Vacation Bible School. As the coordinator of our Children’s Ministry, I had been working for months, weeks, and countless hours each day on making our VBS the best experience it could …
Raising Brave Kids
She mounted the twisted iron ladder to the monkey bars. Surely she could slip and smack her nose. So I yelled to my six-year-old before she reached the second rung. “Be careful!” Those words fly out of my mouth about a hundred times a day. When my daughters dance dizzy in the living room, run barefoot through the yard, fumble with poster paints, or beg to pour the milk—my mommy reflex blurts, Be careful! Accidents are not on our agenda today. The way I see it, God entrusted these children to my care, and I am determined not to mess …