Moms

It happened again. A well-meaning friend who hasn’t seen my son in years attempted to make small talk. The very first question he asked was, “Do you have a girlfriend?” My son is in second grade. This has happened so many times, mostly with relatives we don’t see often. It first started when my boys were in preschool and kindergarten. It continued through elementary school. Oddly, it happens less with my teenagers. However, my younger kids are still fair game, even though they’re in still in elementary school. Relatives we haven’t seen in awhile will ask them about their dating … Read more

We had a devastating flood and lost most everything. I pulled my kids’ trophies and medals out of their rooms with the idea of ordering them replacements. My husband didn’t want me to. He said to only order and replace the ones that “meant something,” not the participation trophies. I strongly disagreed. Not a fan of participation trophies? There are so many reasons to like them or at least to think about them differently. I liken it to an adult training for and running in a marathon. Are you not proud of your hard work and training? Don’t you want to … Read more

Busy, busy, busy. We love to be busy. One might think there is a prize for being the busiest in the land. Even more than that, we love to tell others how busy we are. We pride ourselves on being busy. Somehow, if we’re not busy, we’re not enough. It’s a difficult cycle and mindset to break. We live on deadlines, adrenaline and caffeine. Too often, we feel like something is wrong if we don’t have a lot to do. Aren’t we all guilty of it? We work at our jobs tirelessly while caring for our families. We run our … Read more

My gosh. We all have so much stuff. Here’s the #1 thing with a white elephant gift exchange: Give something you would like to receive. Strive to be the one who brings the gift everyone wants to steal and take home. You will be the hit of the party. Don’t be the person who brings the bad gift. White elephant gift exchange ideas Everyone is busy and stressed out under normal circumstances. Over the holidays, it ramps up.  Everyone is exhausted from running around shopping, baking, Elf-ing, tree trimming, sending gifts to faraway family, and more. Maybe you are also … Read more

What are your thoughts on homemade Valentines? Do your kids make them? And do they want to, or is it more a this-will-be-a-fun-thing-to-do-together mom idea? When I think of the hassle of getting the supplies and then actually clearing a space on my table to work on this with my kiddos? It’s not a pretty picture. I guess I love the idea in an abstract way, but not in a realistic way. My kids would enjoy doing 3 – 4 of them and then would be done. Isn’t it enough to get them to sit down and write out all … Read more