Parenting
Growing up with “parenting experts” and having five children of my own, I’ve learned a thing or two about raising kids.
The biggest thing I’ve learned?
There’s no one “right way” to do it. We all have unique talents and personalities to bring to the table.
Hoping what I share here on 71toes.com will help stimulate your own ideas. Ideas for building stronger family relationships, creating a family economy, establishing family systems. It’s always good to see how others are doing it so we can add to our own “toolbox.”
Sending lots of love your way as you maneuver your own unique parenting adventure.
XOXO
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Lucy Takes on BYU Summer School: A Mother’s Heart in the Middle of It All
You know when little ideas create a spark of possibility in your mind? And then it takes root and you realize that’s a really…
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A Short Summer Stint With Lucy at Home
Let’s take a minute to talk about the short time we got to have Lucy home this summer. The “three musketeers” reunited. Because I…
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The Night After High School Graduation: When the Letting Go Really Begins
It’s graduation season, and emotions after a child’s high school graduation have always been tricky for me! Makes me think of this post outlining…
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Lucy’s First Year of College with Low Vision: Snippets Worth Remembering
Our first year of parenting a college student with low vision has been a journey for us all. And it is worth remembering. It’s…
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Building Independence as a Young Adult with Special Needs: Lucy’s First College Spring Break
Watching your child with special needs step into adulthood can be quite an emotional ride. It brings a unique mix of pride, worry, and…
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Visiting My College Daughter with Low Vision: Lucy’s First Semester
People have asked for an update on Lucy. For anyone new needing an introduction, Lucy is my daughter, and also an incredible college student…
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Preparing Lucy for College: A Journey of Grit, Growth, and Angels
Preparing a child for college is a big step for any parent. Preparing a child with special needs can feel like stepping into completely…
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Praying for Angels as Lucy Heads to College
As Lucy prepares to leave for college, I find myself holding a mix of emotions I can barely put into words. There is so…
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A Simple Way to Connect With Adult Children Through Prayer
We all want ways to connect with our young adults, right? I mean, as parents we are in this funky land of “moving to…
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Lucy Takes on an Excellent College Prep Program for the Blind
Preparing Lucy for college has required a different kind of preparation. That’s why finding the right college prep program for blind students felt so…
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Motherhood Transitions: Saying Goodbye to the High School Years
Motherhood is a constant cycle of transitions—but some hit deeper than others. When your last child graduates high school, it’s more than a milestone…
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Letting Kids Go: Preparing for My Last Child to Graduate
So here we are, preparing for my last child to graduate this week. And life has been filled to the brim with festivities as…
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How I Believe God Is Looking Out for Lucy
I am a big believer in looking for the miracles. Especially in the tricky times. Because Dave and my mantra is true, to be…
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One Last Visit to Iowa: A BBS Clinical Trial and Good Friends
Dave, Lu and I left Dave’s family birthday and visitor week to head out for one last visit to Iowa, to see a good…
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Predictability Promotes the Best Development
I keep thinking about the developmental psychology class I took a while back that explored the “Attachment Theory.” I learned about the preciousness of…
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A Brand New Entrepreneur
Finding meaningful work can be challenging for anyone—but finding jobs for people with visual impairment can feel especially overwhelming. This is the story of…
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Do We Strive for “Superior” Motherhood?
I read the most interesting article a few years ago that made me think. In our world where “gentle parenting” is becoming king, are…
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How to Get Children to WANT to Behave
This is a question so many parents ask themselves: how in heaven’s name can I get my children to behave? Especially when we’re at…
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BBS Vision Restoration Research and Friends in Iowa
After we left Utah for the first part of spring break, we headed to Iowa for some pretty incredible BBS vision restoration research, and…
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the most important nine minutes of the day
I want to talk about a comment made on this blog a while back that talked about the most important nine minutes of the…
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How to Get Through High School with Low Vision: Managing School When You Can’t See
Managing school with low vision is one of the hardest things a teenager can face. School is out here in the desert, and I…
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Lucy’s exciting acceptance into the FBC summer program
We have some big news to share. Something we have really, really been praying for: Lucy’s exciting acceptance into the FBC summer program.
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the magic of parental listening
Let’s talk about the magic of Parental Listening. Because Lucy gave me a really good parenting tip a few weeks ago without even meaning…
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a big miracle for Lucy
The other day I was thinking about miracles. And their evolution. Remember how Lucy’s vision teachers took special care to enlarge her homework worksheets…
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the gang (was) all here…the “little things” of the gathering
We thought only Grace was going to be able to come home for Thanksgiving. But in the end, EVERYONE was able to make it.…
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How to Get Involved in BBS Global Awareness Day
Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) is a rare genetic condition that affects many parts of the body, and for families like ours, it shapes daily life…
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How Little Miracles Fell in Line to Help with Lucy’s Independence
One of the hardest parts of raising a child with special needs is knowing when to let go. Lucy has Bardet-Biedl Syndrome, a rare…
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sorrow, a new basketball manager, and sharing yokes
Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned, even for teens with big dreams. And helping teens overcome disappointment can be really hard. For the parents…
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a little fingertip confidence building to make kids feel love
Can you see those little almost-rubbed-off letters on those fingers up there? There was a night a few weeks ago where this girl needed…
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Two Tips for Raising Kids with Special Needs
Raising a child with special needs is a journey full of challenges, learning, and unexpected joys. Today I want to share two tips that…
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the “parenting pose”
One week a month or so ago when I was at the end of my “parenting rope,” my sister told me about something her…
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giving hope to mothers with snippy girls:)
Little did I know when all those little girls were bouncing around full of drama (which they still are…some more than others…) …that they…
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Some Heroes, a Clinical Trial and a Suntan
Parenting a child with a rare condition like Bardet-Biedl Syndrome brings unexpected challenges—but also unexpected hope. Today I want to share our experience participating…
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Helping 6th Grade Classmates Understand Visual Impairment
As children grow, so do the challenges and the opportunities to help others understand. Lucy heading into sixth grade brought new worries about independence…
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Teaching 5th Graders About Disabilities and Inclusion
One of the most beautiful parts of parenting a child with special needs is watching the village that forms around them. As Lucy moved…
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Explaining Special Needs to 4th graders
Sometimes we forget the importance of explaining special needs to kids. The most meaningful conversations often start with a simple, honest question. When Lucy’s…
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spring break 2016 — with a little side-note thoughts on how much to push a child with special needs
Sorry in advance that this is long. I should do a whole separate post about Lucy and her first try skiing…and probably other stuff…
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Gratitude for the People Who Help Us Keep Lucy’s Vision
There are small moments in parenting a child with vision loss that stop you in your tracks. This was one of those moments for…
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the end of summer glory days
It’s late on Tuesday night and by the time this posts it will be the first day of school. The glory days of summer…
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BBS Conference and My Kind of Rock Stars
Attending a Bardet-Biedl Syndrome conference gave me a deeper appreciation for the researchers, doctors, and families working behind the scenes to support those with…
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the “I Love Lucy project” needs YOU (and everyone else we can muster up to help!)
This post shares an earlier chapter in our journey advocating for Bardet-Biedl Syndrome. You can find updated resources and ongoing efforts on our Special…
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The Parenting Lessons I Learned from “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”
I finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn a little while ago: And I can’t stop thinking about it and the lessons I found in…
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piano teachers
Our beloved piano teacher retired at the end of the last school year. Since then, I have taken on the role as “Mrs. Piano…
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“enshrouded” in a family
A couple months ago my brother-in-law forwarded me a link to this article. It’s been mulling around in my mind ever since. It’s not…
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BBS Conference at Duke University: Our First Time Attending as a Couple
Dave and I went on a “date” to the BBS Conference at Duke University in June. It was kind of a pre-anniversary, pre-Father’s Day…
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England: The BBS Conference in Northampton
So the reason we went to England in the first place (see the first part of our trip in the last post) was so…
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A Day at the Children’s Hospital with a Special Needs Child
There’s not much that makes me more thankful for general health than a day-long trip to the children’s hospital with a special needs child.…
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bitter-sweet {from babies to EFY teenagers}
I was emotional thinking about babies and teenagers this summer. (What else is new? And really, who wouldn’t when you have babies like this…
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Raising Kids Without Entitlement (A Mom’s Wake-Up Call)
I’ve been really worried about raising kids without entitlement lately. I think about it all the time, in fact. Because every now and again…
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“Fasting Club” and Family Testimony Meeting
Let’s talk about our “Fasting Club” and Family Testimony Meeting. Because I got this question and figured it probably deserved a post of it’s…
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Doctors, Experts, and Becoming Your Child’s Biggest Advocate
I have learned that special needs parenting is one of the hardest and most humbling journeys a family can walk. This is a raw,…
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money matters: teaching kids about money
When it comes to teaching kids about money, every parent learns through a little trial and error. A couple weeks ago after Max had…
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Holding On (When Your Kids Are Growing Up Too Fast)
The Dragon Story That Started It All A while ago as I was going down the breakfast line of heads of hair to be…
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confessions
I get the nicest comments on this blog. They make my day. (Thank you so much.) But sometimes, although I really do try to…
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talents – a parenting hack to Building kids’ confidence
As parents, we have such a special opportunity to infuse kids with confidence. Sometimes it is tricky business, especially with all the “voices” they…
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full schedule
Right now our schedule is more full than it’s ever been. And I’ve come to grips that we are just in a very busy…
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socks and Sundays
The sock trick is just grabbing some socks, rolling them up in sections of hair and tying them in a knot. Simple except that…
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make-believe
Growing up in a family of nine kids there was never a shortage of people to hang out with. And to dream up imaginary…
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Lucy. A BBS Syndrome Diagnosis
Nothing can really prepare you to get a phone call from the geneticist telling you that your child has a really rare genetic disorder.…
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multi-tasking gone wrong
I’m a “multi-tasker.” And in order to survive, I think every other mother shares that same title. There’s no such thing as sitting at…
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We Are the Experts: Trusting Your Instincts as a Special Needs Parent
Trusting your instincts as a parent is hard. But even more difficult when your child has a rare syndrome and you’re surrounded by specialists,…
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Father & Sons
I get amused by Father & Sons. The reason is because of what I always had pictured in my mind of what those words…
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To Every Overwhelmed Mom Up at 2am (You Are So Not Alone)
An Overwhelmed Mom’s Honest 2am Thoughts I can’t sleep. I’ve been lying there in the dark listening to the sound of the fan, mulling…
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School and Mother Love
I wrote this the day school started (August 8th) and never got around to posting it. So here it is…School started today and I…
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Lucy has TEN toes
One of the most common physical markers of Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) is polydactyly — being born with extra digits. Lucy came into the world…