Preschoolers Archives - The Mom Initiative

For the Mom Who’s Lost Her Marbles…

I was picking up run-away marbles that morning and grumbling that I was at risk of losing mine when I thought of her. Her hallow eyes loomed in my mind as I crawled on my knees and tried to grab those shiny glass orbs scattered all over the living room carpet again. My four-year-old had been cooking me marble stew since she’d stumbled from bed before sunrise, and my pots and pans were scattered all across the couch. (Um, I mean, the oven with couch- cushion burners.) There was nothing terrible about the hours ahead- just another day of folding laundry and reading picture books, …

The Paradox of Motherhood

I remember the day a newly-engaged young woman asked me a thought-provoking question. “What do you love most about being a mom?” Her eyes glittered, fresh with the hope of someday–after choosing wedding colors and the perfect white dress–embracing the season I was living. A mom of five kids under the age of ten, my life was a daily blur of diapers and dishes, homework helping and hand-holding. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept through the night. Or gone to bathroom alone. Or curled up on the couch and read a book with a plot line more intricate than Green …

Hope for the Hard Days

I spotted it the moment I stepped out of the bathroom-a smudgy blue footprint in the middle of the walkway. Instantly, my stomach twisted at the sight. Because every mom knows where there is one footprint, there is more. I’d been alone behind that bathroom door for less than five minutes- just enough time to speed-wash my hair and slap on deodorant. But after a decade of motherhood, I knew that a few moments was ample time for a three-year-old to ignite a disaster. I wrapped a towel around my dripping hair and followed the path of blue blotches out …

When Mom Isn’t So Merry

It happened again this morning. I was irritated at my children; desperately trying to get them to school on time. The twins are only in preschool but some mornings I feel like I have two teenagers on my hands. And, I do what I hoped I wouldn’t: I snap. It doesn’t help that it’s December, one of the craziest months of the year. It doesn’t help that I’m pregnant and working and quite honestly tired. It doesn’t help that my husband is traveling and the dishes are piled up in the sink and those crazy fruit flies have appeared again …

3 Ways to Teach Kids Outdoors

Before we start on today’s powerful post by Christen Price, we want to announce the winner of NOT ALONE by Dineen Miller and Lynn Donovan. CONGRATULATIONS to Jennifer Gearheart! You will be receiving an email today! Thank you for participating in the giveaway! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Fall is here and its a great time than to get outside to teach our kids. I have preschoolers and some of our favorite activities recently have all been taught outside. Here are three fun ways to teach your kids outdoors: 1. Teach Kids About Farming It is harvest season and there are so many crops being …

The “Joy” of Parenting in the Friendly Skies

Oh no, I groan inwardly as I slide into my seat on the crowded Southwest Airlines plane. The only remaining isle seat is not just at the very back of the plane. It’s also next to a woman sitting next to her preschool son. Her loud preschool son. This is going to be the longest hour-and-twenty-minutes of my life, I gloomily predict. I am wrong. As time literally flies by, I am first amazed, then awed, and finally deeply moved by the vibrant relationship I witness beside me. After we land, I wrack my brain for a way to tell …