Dawn Seabolt | The Grit and Grace Project

10 Surprising Things I Learned About Cancer as an Oncology Nurse

By Dawn Seabolt / Life & Culture, Best Of

During my third year of nursing school I knew I wanted to be an oncology nurse. Not your typical route for a 20-year-old girl. When I started my major, I thought I wanted to do labor and delivery because how fun would that be? But those hormonal women were too much for me. Then I thought since I loved kids I should probably do pediatrics, but it was the kids’ parents that were so demanding and untrusting. And then, in my third year during my med/surg rotation, I had patient after patient with cancer, and I felt a connection to each one of them. Which leads me to the first thing I learned… 1. Cancer patients are the best patients in the hospital. […]

10 Surprising Things I Learned About Cancer as an Oncology Nurse Read More »

We Stopped Spanking and Found Something That Really Works

By Dawn Seabolt / Motherhood

We used to spank. We were both spanked as kids and we turned out OK. We read parenting books that laid out the benefits of spanking and we felt fine with it. Teach the kid who is in charge. The Bible says, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” We took that pretty literally. When we were in the home-study process during our first adoption, we were asked if we spanked. “Yes, we do.” “You know you can’t spank your adopted child, right?” “Really? OK.” Check box that says we won’t spank, even though in our minds we still thought, “Yeah, whatever. We’re the parents. We know what’s best.” The Bible says, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” We took that

We Stopped Spanking and Found Something That Really Works Read More »

Reality: Behind the Scenes of the Happy Adoption Photo

By Dawn Seabolt / Motherhood, Purpose

There are a whole lot of orphans in the world, and there is a big push for more parents to adopt. Adoption is a great thing and a worthy cause, but in our passion and desperation to find homes for children, I feel that we often tread closely to manipulation. Look at this happy adoptive family photo! You could do this for a child! Yes, you! All they need is a home and a family to love them! And yes, so many need homes and they all need love, but how often do we gloss over everything else that they need—an exorbitant amount of patience and a ridiculous amount of grace? They don’t trust adults; they don’t feel worthy of love; they test limits; they tell

Reality: Behind the Scenes of the Happy Adoption Photo Read More »

Kids With Anxiety—They Need You on Their Team

By Dawn Seabolt / Motherhood

I was listening to a podcast last week featuring a popular author talking about raising brave children. She gave several examples of when children have fears, i.e. strangers, the dark, speaking up for themselves, and how you can just push them through those fears until they conquer them. Humph, I thought. This lady doesn’t have a kid with anxiety. We were at an amusement park last month, in line (for forever) for a roller coaster in front of a mom and her two kids, one of which was whimpering and even though I never could actually hear him, I gathered he was afraid because his mom kept saying, “Fine. Don’t do it. You won’t get your reward, but fine. Your baby sister

Kids With Anxiety—They Need You on Their Team Read More »

Choosing Hard Things Is Never Easy, but Always Worth It

By Dawn Seabolt / Faith

This school year has already exceeded my wildest expectations. My son Charlie does not like change, suffers from anxiety, and had been saying several weeks prior that he did not want to go back to school. However, in the meantime he attended an incredible week of therapy disguised as camp (thank you, Bethany Christian Services), where he learned a lot about dealing with his fears and anxiety. He was also assigned a classroom at school where he already knew the teacher, in the same building that he is familiar with, and with two friends that he is crazy about. This classroom also happens to have a guinea pig named Hotdog, which has proven to be like therapy on its own. Charlie tells me that

Choosing Hard Things Is Never Easy, but Always Worth It Read More »

Should You Train Or Discipline Your Child?

By Dawn Seabolt / Motherhood

I have been wrestling with the word “discipline” lately. The actual dictionary definition is, “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.” Really? When I think of discipline, I guess I think of being disciplined as doing what is expected, not being out of line. But using punishment is not exactly how I feel we should teach our kids to behave. I like to think of the word “train” instead. We set the example, we encourage the positive behavior, and we teach and point out consequences of negative behavior. Modeling the behavior that you expect sounds so obvious, but it isn’t easy. Here’s an example of how this awareness played out in our

Should You Train Or Discipline Your Child? Read More »

A Helpful Tool for When Your Kids Are Frustrating You

By Dawn Seabolt / Motherhood

What are some things that bother you about your kids? Things that get on your nerves, things that scare you, things that embarrass you? What is the first thing that comes to mind? I have to admit, for me it is often the petty things. I just mopped (for the first time in a month) and they spill milk all over the floor. They unintentionally break the new toy the day after they receive it, or maybe even the same day if we’re talking about one of mine. They are a block away from home in their underwear, pushing a beach cart. They do not know how to talk at a normal volume. These things are annoying, sometimes embarrassing, but they are

A Helpful Tool for When Your Kids Are Frustrating You Read More »

When You Want to Completely Change Your Parenting Style

By Dawn Seabolt / Motherhood

When my husband and I became parents, we had big plans about how we were going to mold and shape our children into respectful and respectable little people. We have now been parents for 10 years, and I have to admit we have learned more and become better parents in the past two than we did in the first eight. Two years ago we added to our family by adopting a 7-year-old boy from China. Adopting an older child from a difficult past means reading lots of books on trauma, attachment issues and the brain. Luckily, I have a great interest in these subjects, so the learning is fun. Putting the principles we’ve learned into practice with patience and grace is not

When You Want to Completely Change Your Parenting Style Read More »

Are You Chasing Paper? 10 Practical Ways to Save Money

By Dawn Seabolt / Work & Money

Our family has had to dramatically change the way that we spend, for several different reasons. I have been working on simplifying my life in many areas, and fortunately, that does end up saving a bit of money. I believe one of the best ways to save money is to be mindful of where your money goes. Write down your expenses, keep a budget, plan ahead. Nothing earth-shattering, but here are a few practical ways to start saving money: 1. Plan out meals for the week and stick to your grocery list. This takes about 15 minutes a week of planning per week for me. I also have a menu list of about 20 items, so when I don’t feel creative, I just check

Are You Chasing Paper? 10 Practical Ways to Save Money Read More »