Hi! I’m shawni!

I’m so happy you’re here and can’t wait to share my story with you! As a mother of 26 years (yow!), and the daughter of parenting experts, Richard and Linda Eyre, I know the role of motherhood is essential. We are raising the future!

I’ve shared my passion and life experiences here for over 14 years — at first in the trenches with toddlers, to the wrangling-teen stage, and now “moving to the bleachers” with young adults. I believe that women have an incredible power to help nurture kids to find their potential. My goal as I continue to write is to encourage women and to promote joy in motherhood at every stage.

Good parenting and strong families make our world a stronger place. Come get inspired and leave feeling empowered as a woman on your own journey to find balance and excitement in your role as a mother!

MY FAMILY

From the time I was a little girl, second in a family of nine kids, I yearned to be a mother. Oh, I had visions of grandeur as to how that job would go down!

Here I am all these years later and I’ve found that this parenting gig is certainly not all “butterflies and rainbows.” Life is messy! Parenting is messy too! But I’m so glad to be along for the ride with my “#1” and our five children (one boy followed by four girls). We’ve been joined by two incredible in-law children and one adorable grand baby. They all teach me every day.

Our youngest daughter Lucy was born with six toes on one foot and was later diagnosed with BBS. So for a while we had 71 toes all together. Hence, “71 Toes.”

71 toes

71 Toes began in 2007 as a way to keep a record of family life. Back then Lucy was an emergent toddler and all my kids were hanging on my legs all day. I’ve enjoyed sharing the day-to-day messes, mayhem, and beauty through the years. Now, most of my kids are grown and I get to share about the joys of parenting adult children (and even grandchildren), too.

As I’ve journaled about family life, one of my favorite things has been connecting with so many readers. All coming from different vantage points. As I’ve shared the ups and downs of my motherhood journey, from toddler tantrums to teen drama, I’ve learned so much from YOU. Thank you for encouraging and lifting me and also each other in this space.

71 Toes has become a way to share parenting ideas and promote the joy of motherhood. I treasure the opportunity to work together as “fellow strugglers” to become more deliberate in our own unique mothering adventures.

the 71 toes community is…

Intentional

We are present. We’re involved when we need to be and we allow space when needed.

Empowering

We are bold. We’re ready to try something new and use unique tools to solve problems.

Nurturing

We encourage. We care for each other and our children. We offer light and give strength.

LOOKING FOR WAYS TO CONNECT WITH YOUR TEEN?

After raising four teenagers with the fifth still smack-dab in the middle of that teenagerhood, I’ve learned a thing or two about teenager connection. I’ve got 5 sure-fire ways to connect. Grab your free download today!

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Follow on Instagram

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed with the ID 1 found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.