Motherhood Challenges Need a Grit and Grace Life

20 Things Moms Can Do (With a Little Extra Time)

Oh, the things you moms can do… When the kids go back to school! I know there are some of you mamas who absolutely love summer. You relish having your kids with you every minute of every day and doing all the fun things you don’t have time to do with them during the school year. Others of you are pulling your hair out from trying to keep the littles so busy that they don’t end up beating on each other or crying “I’m bored” every 20 minutes. Working women, you’re just ready for a break from the endless parade of summer camps… And the hefty bills for those, right? Whatever your feelings about the kids going back to school, one thing […]

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Why Every Mom Needs to Have a Meltdown

By Meaghan Dawson / Motherhood

At its best, airline travel is simply a series of minor inconveniences. The waiting. The lines. The undressing. The re-dressing. The small doses of both radiation and humiliation. It’s just not really fun, right? But then you add in a family and a bunch of small little humans and those minor inconveniences morph into major ones quite quickly. What seems like a virtual breeze when you’re flying solo quickly becomes a nearly insurmountable hurdle, and everything is about 20 times harder. Especially when things don’t go exactly as planned. Which happens more often than not when you’re flying the friendly skies. And while my children are inching up in years and things are becoming marginally easier, we still encounter little travel hiccups.

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Being Pregnant Is Hard! 4 Truths for a Mom-To-Be

By Jordan Hawkins / Motherhood

I’m sitting at 35 weeks today, and my hips are numb from rolling from side to side trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. My feet have swollen to the point where I can’t wear any of my shoes except for one pair of tennis shoes and my house slippers. There is a foot wedged under the right side of my rib cage, and don’t even get me started on morning sickness! I hear of these women who have had these sublime, serene pregnancies, and envy grows deep in my chest—or maybe that is heartburn from last night’s dinner (I’m not sure!). Women throughout the world are creating new life every second of the day, and though the joy remains in

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This Is Why You Need to Let Go of Your Boy, Mom

By Kitti Murray / Motherhood

I had breakfast with one of my sons this week. Somewhere between our first cups of coffee and our last, he looked at me across the table and said, “We should do this more often.” If you are a mom of a boy, especially a boy who is old enough to drink coffee, and even more especially a boy who is a man with a wife and children of his own, you understand how this comment made me feel. I don’t have to describe the little flip-flop that happened in my heart. But it wasn’t all that long ago when the flip-flop could have ruined the moment. This is the danger zone between moms and their boys. I will not say we

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Mom, Do You Believe in Chivalry?

By Sarah Beth Wright / Motherhood

“Mom, do you believe in chivalry?” I felt my jaw tighten up, and I did my best not to roll my eyes. As a boy mom in the South, one of my biggest conflicts has always been how to raise my boys to treat girls and women with respect in all directions. I grew up with a mom who taught me women are independent and can handle life on our own, while she also respected my father. My dad opened doors and carried in the groceries while appreciating her for her achievements. Strong Women Still Desire Chivalry So, why was this such a nerve-touching question? Most likely because of the family, friends, and relatives I grew up with that defined chivalry for

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Welcome to Holland. A Message Every Mom Needs

By Meaghan Dawson / Motherhood

Some people walk into parenthood with a very specific set of ideas on what it will look like. They have lots of plans. You know the ones, right? “Oh, my child will never act that way in public.” And, “Oh I will never feed my child that.” Those people are delightful, no? Me, I was definitely not one of those people. In fact, if there were a spectrum of pre-parental awareness (think 10—knows everything and 0—knows nothing), I would have been a -20. I was 100% clueless as to what parenting would entail, how I would handle it, and what exactly it would look like. As it turns out, this was both a blessing and a curse for my parenting career. When I was pregnant

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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

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5 Quotes That Will Encourage You, Working (Super) Mom

By Ashley Johnson / Motherhood, Work & Money

Working moms do it all—but it’s hard! The struggle to find work and life balance is real, but in the end, what really matters is that you tried your best. At least, that’s what I’ve been told from the women who’ve seen it through. One thing I know that all of us working moms could use is a little encouragement. Just a quick note that says, “Hey, I see you. I see all of the obstacles you overcome every day. It’s not always flawless, but you put your heart and soul into it. You are a strong woman, and you’re a good mom.” So, working mom, these 5 quotes are for you: “I think every working mom probably feels the same thing: You

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Here Are 5 Ways to Protect Your Child Online

By Jessica Harris / Motherhood

As a mom, you know it’s your job to keep your little ones safe. From the moment you first held them, whether you birthed them or adopted them, you probably felt a fierce desire to make sure nothing bad ever happened to your children. Then, life happens and, of course, they fall, scrape, bleed, and cry. Shy of wrapping your kids in bubble wrap and grounding them for life, it may not feel like there is much you can do to protect them. In this technological age, it’s no longer just the stranger on the playground you have to be watching out for. There are seedy characters and questionable content all over the internet, tucked away in apps, messaging through social media,

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This Is Why You Can Stop Entertaining Your Children

Is it Time to Stop Entertaining Your Kids?

By Annie Leigh Edwards / Motherhood

Mary Poppins ticks me off. She has fooled me into believing that I have to continually entertain my children with a bag of fun. You know, I should just carry an oversized carpetbag around with me in case there is ever a dull moment. That way I can just reach in and pull something out that will leave us all in amazement. There will be singing, dancing, flying around in the air, carousel rides, spoons full of sugar, and tap dancing with penguins. Parents, when did it become our duty to provide constant entertainment for our children? I think about the musical The Chorus Line, and I grab some tap shoes as I sing to my children, “Let Me Entertain You!” Here

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Why You Need to Let Your Teenager Go

By Amber Koehn / Motherhood

My daughter’s middle school recently held a parent meeting for students interested in its biennial trip to Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas. This excited me and also terrified me for a couple of reasons. It doesn’t seem possible that I have a child old enough to go on the same trip I went on, but then again, it doesn’t seem likely that it’s been 25 years since I went on that trip. The adventure consists of several days on the east coast touring monuments and museums in D.C., Pennsylvania, and Virginia. It is held every other year for students who have completed eighth grade, and it is a phenomenal learning experience. The teacher who hosted the meeting has been the primary sponsor

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3 Marks of a Matriarch: Love, Understanding, and Grace

By Amber Koehn / Faith, Motherhood

“Grace, then, is grace—that is to say, it is sovereign, it is free, it is sure, it is unconditional, and it is everlasting.” – Alexander Whyte. I have always wanted a large family. My mom came from a smaller family. She only had one brother, and he never married. When my mom and dad married, they just had my brother and me, so we were the only children on that side of the family. It had its perks (we never had to share our grandparents!), but it also had its drawbacks, because whenever we got together with everyone, my brother and I only had each other to play with. If you can imagine, it wasn’t a whole lot of fun, especially as

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This Is How to Face the Homework Battle

By Amber Koehn / Motherhood

If you are a mother, chances are you’ve had to deal with your fair share of homework battles. Some instances have probably been minor, like your child forgetting to bring their homework back to school or not getting the required signatures on a form. But some cases have probably been a little more extreme (think full-blown temper tantrum–and I’m not talking about your child). I remember one such occasion with my oldest. It was four years ago when she was in the third grade. I was going about my afternoon, getting ready to start dinner, when I was interrupted by an extremely upset 9-year-old. Like, epic upset. She had been working on her math homework for all of five minutes and deemed

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An Ode to the Valentines Day Box

By Meaghan Dawson / Motherhood

An ode to the “Valentine’s Day Box”… Oh Valentine’s Day, what a weird, twisted, and torturous holiday you are. I just don’t know how to handle you. On the one hand, you celebrate love, of all things. It’s kind of hard to hate that. I mean, who wouldn’t want to celebrate love? Well, besides Satan and all. He probably hates Valentine’s Day too. Your intention as a holiday, I’m sure, is good and true and kind. But on the flip side, your modern-day execution of Valentine’s Day: It’s the pits. It’s a giant cesspool of commercialism, competition, and insecurity. And I’m just talking about my Valentine’s Day feels here, people. The oddest thing about my jumbled emotions is that they don’t even

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A Little Encouragement When Motherhood Is Disappointing

By Dr. Zoe / Motherhood

Wait. Is this taboo? Can I talk about when this joyous thing called parenting is disappointing? Whether you have a newborn who is screaming all night or a 40-year-old adult child living downstairs, there comes a point (well, many of them maybe) when a parent thinks, wait—this sucks! Before you get offended, let me acknowledge that talking about the not-so-great parts of parenting does not in any way negate the amazing, heartwarming, life-changing miracle that parenting is. It really is. But sometimes it is truly disappointing, and way too often we parents take on way too much guilt, which of course only further impedes our good parenting moments. We are never off the hook as parents, but that doesn’t mean we are destined to a

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This is Why I Don’t Have Just One Parenting Style

By Christi Anderson / Motherhood

Just because I videoed my son jumping off the roof onto the trampoline before I made him stop does not make me a total free-range parent. My kids are gymnasts, dancers and daredevils… kinda like their mom. Wanna snowboard down the black diamond hill? Sure, let’s do it. Wanna hike to the steepest point on every mountain we encounter? Sure, let’s do it. Wanna hop on our bikes and just ride and ride to wherever we end up? Sure, let’s do it. Wanna train for a half marathon at 13? Sure, let’s do it. Wanna do a handstand or walk on your hands everywhere in Los Angeles (and every single city we visit)? Sure, but let me take your picture and put

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Toddlers, Tantrums & Time Out: How To Deal with Discipline

By Carolyn Gordon / Motherhood

Fresh out of the Terrible Two’s and headed straight toward the Threenage year, I’m realizing what I have gotten myself into. How little I knew (and still fail to know) about parenting, namely in the area of discipline … the essential task of guiding these little, wandering souls. The phrase, “You just don’t know ’til you know,” is a phrase tirelessly uttered many times in my mom groups. We chat about our toddlers’ most recent mischievous habits and how the rugs were once again pulled out from under us, right as we were thinking we had it figured out. Recognizing that each toddler is unique in their personalities, and each mom has their own set of parenting skills, I’ve found that we

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