Today’s post on Sibling Rivalry is #MyMassTakeaway for the Mass readings on 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Find the Mass Readings here: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 23, 2018 Continue reading “A Biblical Approach to Sibling Rivalry”
Tag: Parenting
“Before I Lose It” – A Mom’s Guide to Sanity
This post is not intended to diagnose or treat depression or any other mental or emotional health conditions. I simply wish to share my experience with life-changing strategies I first learned through counseling.
“You guys better clean up before I lose it!”
It’s hard to be around our kids all the time. Their needs and messes and noise are constantly weighing on us. It can be easy to lose ourselves to the demands of motherhood. To let stress take over. To be the yelling, tantruming mom we swore we’d never be.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Continue reading ““Before I Lose It” – A Mom’s Guide to Sanity”
Inspired to be the Heart of the Home
Lessons from Mary: how I reconciled with “A mother is the heart of the home.”
My birthday was coming up and I had big plans.
I was going to do all the things I wanted to do for me. It was going to be a whole day of me-ness. I planned to take off first thing in the morning, meet a friend for breakfast, do some shopping by myself, have a nice lunch in a coffee shop, maybe even do some writing, and come home to a quiet dinner with my husband.
I had been feeling overwhelmed with meeting everybody else’s needs, and I was sick of it. For once I wanted to just do what I want. To not have to answer to anyone else. I was becoming more and more short-tempered. Less engaged in effective discipline. More shouty than problem-solvey.
So I was going to escape. For an entire day. Happy birthday to me. Continue reading “Inspired to be the Heart of the Home”
A shower prayer (just for fun)
Have you ever heard of the shower prayer? I pray it every day. It goes something like this:
Lord, wash my feet that they may follow Your path. Wash my hands that they may do Your work in this world. Cleanse my head of all distractions and fill it with thoughts of You –
JUST KIDDING!
I wish I prayed like that in the shower every morning. I probably should. But my shower prayer (and I don’t pray it every day, only every-day-I-shower) goes more like this… Continue reading “A shower prayer (just for fun)”
Rocking Motherhood
What makes a good mom?
A little while back, I guest posted on The Koala Mom about what it means to be a Love Rebel Mom. In short: I’m dedicated to my vocation. God called me to be a mom, and I’m going to be a darn good one.
So Anni over at Beautiful Camouflaged Mess of a Life challenged me to prove it. In her rocking motherhood post, she shared what makes her a good mom, and tagged me to do the same with practical examples from my own life.
As I brainstormed my supermom qualities, I realized everything on my list was more about the mom I want to be than the mom I am right now. And I struggled to identify real life ways I actually rock motherhood every day.
So I asked my kids. Continue reading “Rocking Motherhood”
A Reflection on the Quiet Years of Jesus’ Life
The Quiet Years: a guide to embracing the ordinary.
In a world of information and connection, we can be tempted to share every detail of every moment of our children’s lives.
The adorable thing they said.
The Lego they built.
The meal they ate (or refused to eat) for lunch.
Since every moment is precious and important, we feel we must shout it out loud for all the world to know.
The Quiet Years
But Your childhood, Jesus, is in stark contrast to this attitude. The first 30 years of Your life were the quiet years. Continue reading “A Reflection on the Quiet Years of Jesus’ Life”
I Have Extra Arms and Extra legs
For all the babywearing moms.
I strapped my tantruming 2-yo to my back, rolled up my sleeves, and dug into the dishes, hoping the closeness and the movement would help her calm down.
The cries eventually turned to whimpers. The whimpers to sighs. The sighs to silence. She was asleep.
Time to lay her down for a nap.
But first I stepped into the bathroom to scoop up the dirty clothes for the laundry. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My silhouette was augmented with extra appendages. Little tiny fingers, toes, arms, and legs, were peeking out from the left and right.
I stopped.
And stared. Continue reading “I Have Extra Arms and Extra legs”
Hey Busy Family, How Do You Pray?
My prayer life is unique to me. And frankly, it’s hectic, distractable, and revolves around my family life. Take a sneak-peek at the a day-in-the-prayer-life-of-me! Continue reading “Hey Busy Family, How Do You Pray?”
When You Have Nothing Left to Give, Be the Gift
Give the gift of yourself like God does in the Incarnation, on the Cross, in the Eucharist.
It started with a gentle tug on my sheets and a soft whisper in my ear:
“Mom, my belly hurts.”
Those words had the power to throw me out of bed. I quickly scooped my 3yo daughter into my arms and made a stumbling dash into the bathroom. Continue reading “When You Have Nothing Left to Give, Be the Gift”
How To Live the Dream the World Doesn’t Understand
What looking back at a sacrificed career can teach you about your vocation as a wife and mom.
Forget the perfect Pinterest project, by the time you change every diaper that needs changing, feed the starving animals you call your children, put the cushions back on the couch for the thousandth time, toss every LEGO block back in the bin, feed those children again, teach them their letters, feed them again, brush their teeth, tuck them in bed, tell them to get back in bed – you don’t have the energy left to stay awake until a reasonable adult bedtime, so you’re passed out in your spit-up-covered jeans on top of the bedspread at 7:59.
Well I give you credit, you almost made it to 8:00. Continue reading “How To Live the Dream the World Doesn’t Understand”
