When my son Max turned fifteen, I was caught in that familiar swirl of maternal worry: Will he be motivated? Is he prepared for the world? Am I doing enough? Looking back now—all these years later—from the perspective of a ‘seasoned’ mother with grown children, I see those messy teenage years so differently. So I…
Teenagers are confusing. And frustrating. And tricky. But they are also pretty dang awesome. Raising teenagers can evoke a wide range of emotions — from anxiety over how they are doing, to heavy sadness when they face a challenge, to joy from seeing them thrive. It’s a tough job.
Yesterday Lucy became an official college student. Well, in all actuality, she started last week in a special “connections” class to kick things off. Starting College with a Vision Impairment But I sit here now, far away from that girl of mine, sending her all my heart with all my might. I think about how…
Oh gosh, there is SO much going on in my heart right now. I’m a little paralyzed with how to record this whole getting-Lucy-ready-for-college bit. How do I adequately describe how this feels? I want so much to remember it. How it has felt for all these years to have her home. And also her…
Sometimes as parents we think we need to give up boundaries in order to build relationships with our kids. But actually the opposite is true. I got this question a while back and I’ve been thinking about it lately: My son is 4.5 years old. From the day he was born I decided I was…
I forgot to mention that we recorded a few of podcasts while we were together in Utah: a sister’s overnight podcast fest:) My brother Eli came over as we were getting ready to record late that night and we lassoed him in to record an episode with us that actually aired this week. We talked…
We all want our kids to like us, right? But the truth is the parent child relationship is about so much more than our kids just liking us. It’s also about more than discipline. Parent child relationships are complicated. Let’s dive in and talk about how we nurture these important relationships in our home.
I love when kids ask real questions for real life. When they are searching. And when they are vulnerable and lay their feelings out on the line. I love when they are really seeking to understand. Even if that understanding is going to drag them through some tough, dark spots. Because I don’t want them…
There is this thing that happened back when Grace was home for those few months after her mission that I keep thinking about: Something that made me think about the importance of boundaries in the midst of a coddling world. One of my other kids (who shall not be named to protect the not-so-innocent) was…