It adds to the Christmas magic when you have children in the house. Children get so excited anticipating opening presents, being off school and seeing family. But with children also comes drama. I’ve heard more than a few parents worrying about their children being off their schedules for 2 weeks over break. We’ve all been there! When children have too many late nights, too much sugar and not enough structure there is bound to be trouble! Here are some guidelines to help you survive and connect with your kids during winter break! [Read more…]
15 Ways to Inspire Your Christmas Mood
15 Ways to Inspire Your Christmas Mood
Have you ever looked at pictures of yourself from 10 or 15 years ago and wonder where that woman went? The one who has that spark in her eye. As women and moms, we tend to to care for much of the behind scene’s details to help make life happen. But sometimes we allow life to overwhelm us or to start dictating who we are. I want to be the kind of mom who cares deeply for her family, in little and big ways. But I also want to retain a part of that young woman who still has a twinkle in her eye and believes in miracles. So while we work away preparing for our families this Christmas season, let’s also allow time to get into the Christmas spirit. Here are 15 ways to inspire your Christmas mood to get your sparkle on!! [Read more…]
5 Warning Signs of a Toxic Relationship
Love. We all desire to be special to someone. We will give a lot of ourselves to see a relationship work and blossom. However, it’s crucial we recognize the signs of a toxic relationship, so our passion to make a relationship work doesn’t blind us to the truth. Most people believe that they would quickly leave an toxic relationship. Unfortunately, that is not always true since a toxic person can be very manipulative. It can become increasing hard to know when a relationship has gone from one with a few problems to toxic. So let’s review the 5 warning signs of a toxic relationship. [Read more…]
4 Crucial Steps to Happiness Through Healthy Boundaries
I have a love/ hate relationship with boundaries. I love when I can see my boundaries working and allowing my life to run smoothly. I cherish those sweet moments when it all connects. I rise above my feelings to see the bigger picture and move forward emotionally. Growth is wonderful. Well it’s wonderful when we are at the end of a growth period and can see the finish line! And we can say, “Yes, I made it! I’m awesome!” It’s amazing when we conquer these 4 crucial steps to happiness through healthy boundaries! [Read more…]
Don’t Wear Skinny Jeans and Other Lessons From the ER
Life is tough! It can knock you down with little or no warning. But even on those days that are hard there are moments that cause you to pause and smile and maybe even have a good chuckle later. So today, we are going to look at some deep wisdom (sarcasm) that I have learned from my trips to the ER. This past year, has been one of the toughest years physically so I want to celebrate a little having made it through the year. I am celebrating my SCADanniversary (1 year from my last SCAD heart attack)! Don’t Wear Skinny Jeans and Other Lessons From the ER is my hurrah for those of us who are learning to survive and thrive despite some medical challenges! [Read more…]
6 Survival Tips to Reduce Holiday Stress
Snow, the smell of cookies baking and twinkling lights are all things that may remind us of the holidays. So does arguments, stress and busyness. For some the holiday season represents a positive time spent with family, cooking and shopping. While others struggle with anxiety at the thought of being around relatives, the expectations of trying to be happy and all the preparation required as the holidays draw near. Most people land somewhere in the middle. So how can we mentally and emotionally prepare ourselves this year? We want to enjoy and create some joyous holiday memories while still being realistic about our time and what is out of our control? Let’s lean into this question together to develop 6 survival tips to reduce holiday stress. [Read more…]
How to Know When to Keep or Fire that Friend?
It happened when my daughter was still in the church nursery. She was barely talking, and she was already mentioning her two “friends” by name. I was caught off guard by my daughter’s strong desire to find friends. But what started off as cute antics has grown. Those girls are still all friends 11 years later. And fortunately, no one still bites each other any more! Deep friendships are something most of us long to find. Friends can make life so much more fun and the hard times more bearable. Other times our friendships can be a source of great personal anguish. So how to know when to keep or fire that friend is a survival skill we should all attain. It will help us to draw and treasure the right friends and walk away from people who will drain us.
6 Ways to Break Free of Parenting from Guilt
If you look up mommy guilt on the internet there is a lot of information. Feeling guilty as a mom is common. We all want to feel like we are doing a good job and that we are accomplishing this all important job of parenting. For this post though I want to go beyond some of the surface areas to look at the deeper issues below. When we parent from a wounded place we set a pattern of parenting from guilt that hurts our authority as a parent and adversely affects our child in the long run. So let’s ditch the mom guilt and discover 5 ways to break free of parenting from guilt. [Read more…]
Pursuing Your Passion while Achieving Your Priorities
Several years after college, I interned at the Albert B. Sabin archive in Cincinnati. At the time, I was a single mom working full-time as a flight attendant pursuing a master’s degree in Library and Information Science (I know, crazy, right? I’ll come back to that). Albert B. Sabin was one of the men credited for eradicating polio with his oral polio vaccine, in this country and around the world. We are talking huge accomplishment. But as I combed through his life I saw all his time spent away from his family. There were several broken relationships in his personal life. It made me wonder. At the end of our life what will really matter? Does accomplishing a great goal or dream outweigh the cost to our personal life? Is it possible to pursue your passion while achieving your priorities? [Read more…]
Overcoming Heartache and Emotional Pain
“Mom, why are you taking a picture of your arm?”, my daughter asked. I was sitting on the couch capturing a photo of the huge bruise on my arm. My arm was black and blue from an unexpected surgery I had gone through the week before. ” It will help me as I recover emotionally to remember that I have gone through this surgery,” I tried to explain. I knew, that soon the bruises would fade, but the emotional pain and heartache I (and my family) had gone through would last much longer. [Read more…]