parenting

3 tips for making teenagers like you Ha! These tips work wonders for making your unruly, eye-rolly teenagers like you. …until they don’t. Because sometimes, you know what? They won’t. And that’s ok. I think having teenagers is like being on a roller coaster. There are definite highs and lows,…

Speaking of the “ripple effects” of grandparenting and parenting (yesterday), Dave’s dad (who’s birthday it is today…happy birthday Papa!!) has given he and his siblings the gift of beautiful skiing. Now, I’m not talking about the get-down-the-mountain type of skiing. No. They way Dave’s family skis is almost like a…

I know I’ve probably mentioned this ten billion times before, but one of Dave and my favorite quotes is “You’ll find what you’re looking for.” Whether bad or good, you can find it. In anyone. In anything. This comes up on a continual basis. With parenting, with each other, with…

It’s been a tough couple parenting weeks in these parts over here in the desert. Oh boy. As I said in my Instagram #givethanks post a couple days ago, when the going gets tough, the depth of gratitude I have for the parents who raised me and Dave overwhelms me.…

Back when Lucy and I were in the hospital for her back surgery (HERE), the world spinning around her after her surgery, wanting to cling on to something solid and safe and good to get her mind off of the pain, she asked me to tell her a “Mirror Land”…

“As parents, it is not our job to save. That is the Savior’s job. It’s not our job to fight for their behaviors. It is our job to fight for their hearts.” I don’t know where that is from…some podcast somewhere that I paused and scribbled down on a little…

This summer some friends came to town. They were staying a little distance from us, so we packed up for the drive we had ahead of us to go visit with them. On the way out the door I grabbed a couple books I had been meaning to read with…

Ok, here goes. Social media has been heavy on my mind lately, and also my heart.  I’ve talked about it HERE and HERE, and so much has happened before and after and in between those posts that just keeps me thinking and thinking. And worrying too. (I think it’s pretty interesting…

As parents we are “trainers” in so many ways. We train our children to talk, to walk, to eat, to smile in the beginning. We train them to say “please” and “thank you,” to look adults in the eye, to build a tower with blocks, to take turns, to read,…

Sometimes I need reinforcements to get things through to my kids. I love that sometimes other people can reach with ease the innermost parts of their hearts I’ve been hitting my head against the wall trying to do.  I think it’s that way with most children.  Sure, as parents we…