Motherhood Challenges Need a Grit and Grace Life

When You Feel Sad Because an Important Season of Motherhood Ends

I’m not ready. I’m just not ready! This is the recurring thought I’m having as we walk further into the wonderful fall season. With this season come so many emotions. Ok, who am I kidding? All seasons bring about different emotions, for me anyway. Fall is like a deep sigh, a cleansing breath if you will. The daylight is shorter, and darkness longer. The fog rolls in with the evening and stays until midmorning, bringing a layer of dampness to all it touches. We begin to look for our favorite, coziest sweater to keep the chill of the morning and evenings off our sun-soaked skin, and we contemplate trading out our iced coffee for a warm pumpkin spice latte. I love this season for […]

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To the Mom Who Feels Guilty for Sitting on the Job

By Meaghan Dawson / Faith, Motherhood

Last week I found myself in a unique predicament. It was a typical weekday afternoon. Nothing special or noteworthy, and if I’m completely honest I’ll admit that I don’t even remember what day it actually was—could have been Tuesday or Thursday. I have no idea. Regardless, on this afternoon the kids were all home, homework and chores were done, and the messy after-school routine (and the whining that goes along with it) was long over. My daughter was happily jumping away on the trampoline, my son was playing basketball outside, and my oldest had gone to a friend’s house. They didn’t need me. My house was quiet. My pressing daily chores finished long before, and there was still an hour or so before dinner

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Talking About the Book, Raising Great Girls (Video)

By Our Grit and Grace Life Videos / Motherhood

This Grit and Grace Life podcast co-hosts Darlene Brock and Julie Graham talk about Darlene’s new book, Raising Great Girls, Help for Moms to Raise Confident, Capable Daughters (perfection not required). Interested in the book but want to know more? Click here to download a free chapter. Available now at Amazon.

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To the SAHM Who Struggles Because Her Man Works a Lot

By Rachel Hagstrom / Motherhood

For the SAHM whose man travels frequently or has long hours at the office, the days can feel monotonous or lonely and isolating. She may feel as though she’s lost a part of her identity or be overwhelmed, worn down, and even battle jealousy of his time with adults (okay, maybe that last part is just me). My husband and I have spent almost half of our 10 years of marriage away from one another due to his intense traveling schedule: 10 months after we married, he left for a one-year deployment before shifting out of the military into a private sector job. His new job requires weekly travel; every Monday morning at 5 am, he’ll kiss me goodbye and won’t return until

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Raising Great Girls, Help for Moms to raise confident, capable daughters

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood

Get your copy of Raising Great Girls by Darlene Brock now! A Few Words From Darlene: Hindsight: the ability to understand a situation only after it has happened. While this is true of all things, I have found it especially true when looking back at the season that I raised two daughters while working, traveling, and juggling life. That task was both the most incredible and challenging job of the many I held. The idea to write this book came from me reflecting on the years of my girls growing up and listening to other moms experience the same fears and frustrations today that I did back then. A new purpose was formed in my heart to offer moms some insight on

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10 Ways to Make the Most of Your Maternity Leave

By Carey Melton / Motherhood

I just completed my third maternity leave, and I wish I could tell you that I’ve got it all figured out. I feel like I should be able to create some Pin on Pinterest that charts the course for the best maternity leave, but all three maternity leave experiences were very different. I believe maternity leave can be one of those transitions in life where we look back and say, “I wish,” or, “I miss,” or, “If I only could’ve.” Parenting, in general, is full of those “if” moments (and even regrets), and maternity leave often falls under the same umbrella. Most of the time you’re just surviving, and that’s okay. For several weeks you walk around in a fog and then

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That One Time I Felt Like a Failure of a Mom

By Sarah Beth Wright / Motherhood

As I was driving this Friday afternoon, hurtful words were being thrown at me. How could you? Seriously, you’ve been off all week. Why is it so difficult to keep up with children at home, but you can handle a full classroom during the school year? This week seems to be a week of chaos. Setting a new normal for the kiddos is always a challenge for our family. This year, with our own three boys and our two bonus kiddos (our word for foster), it creates a house of constant movement; there’s never a chance to catch up. I had the week planned out in my head. There were several goals and timeframes to meet, however, I knew we would reach

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Struggling to Balance It All? 3 Helpful Tweaks for Moms

By Ashley Vancil / Motherhood

In a world where you are always needed and on the go, finding a way to balance life and not lose yourself is crucial. The hard part is finding a way to do that. It’s the balancing act that is key here. Allotting the right amount of time for everything that requires your attention. Being a working mother to three boys under the age of six is demanding enough. Once you add in wife, housework, pets, cooking, doctors appointments, working out, meal planning, grocery shopping, bill paying, and giving everyone the amount of attention they need, we forget ourselves. We are drained and depleted. Most of the time running on fumes just trying to make it day to day. Where is the joy in that? How are

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All the Feels from This First-Time Mom of a Teenager

By Amber Koehn / Motherhood

At the end of July, I will become the mom of a teenager. I am having a difficult time swallowing that thought: mom of a teenager. It was just yesterday that this sweet, shy two-year-old with spiral ringlets was playing with her Playskool Busy Ball Popper and reading Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? This girl who, at a very young age, fell in love with classic musicals like State Fair, The King and I, and The Sound of Music has now moved on to The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. How can she be 13? I swear I just gave birth to her. She was this tiny preemie (born four weeks early), but she was ready to take on our big, scary world.

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Fortnite: How to Strike a Balance with Your Kids

By Laura Hurd / Motherhood

Fornite’s growing popularity has forced parents to address the trending role of online gaming. Fornite is a free, online survival game that can be streamed on multiple gaming platforms such as PS4 or Xbox. There is no blood or gore found within gameplay. However, there are guns, grenades, and an ax used for gathering materials for fort building. Although this is the first time my 10-year-old has requested to be a part of an online game, he is no stranger to electronics. This day and age, moms and dads no longer get to choose if their child will own some form of electronic device; the question has become when. Because school systems have started integrating the use of tablets and Google accounts,

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Simple Ideas for How to Enjoy Summer Break With Your Kids

By Megan Edwards / Motherhood

As summer break begins and moms brace themselves for the organized (or not so much) chaos it brings, I recall a conversation I had a few years back about the stress it can cause. Even though we’re not packing lunches, the children seem to be eating us out of house and home. They want to start their days at 6 a.m., wanting to know, “Where are we going today and how soon?” Or, “Can I have so-and-so over?” Or the classic whining and whimpering line, “I’m bored!” The questions keep coming… It’s exactly as the old saying goes, “The days are long but the years are short.” When I was in the beginning stages of therapy for my postpartum depression, I remember venting

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This Is How to Work Hard and Still Be a Great Mom

By Ashley Vancil / Motherhood, Work & Money

It is possible to be a successful working mom and to still be a good mom. I have been the stay-at-home mom, but I am currently the mom who works full-time. Let me tell you, both are hard work and it is true: a mother’s work is never done. We are always on call. Here is how I have been able to get things done and still be present for my family when I am home. Planning is key! I have always been the person who must write everything down. It helps me to process and focus. If I know what I have coming up with work events, appointments, and meetings then I can compare and plan. I make sure I am

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This Is Why Family Dinners Don’t Have to Be Perfect

By Meaghan Dawson / Motherhood

You may or may not know this about me, but when I’m not here writing for Grit and Grace Life, I actually run a fun little faith-based food blog, which I know is a strange combo, but it works somehow for me. I’ve been doing this for years now, and I feel blessed that I get to combine my passions for cooking, writing, and sharing Jesus with people all over the world. When I got the wild hair to start this thing, I never imagined that it would grow the way it has, that my words would touch people and help people and maybe (hopefully) even make people laugh at my expense—because truthfully, I’m really quite ridiculous. Since starting my blog I’ve

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From One Mom to Another: How to Help Your Teen Mature

By Kim Spurlock / Motherhood

Parenting teenagers can be very challenging and stressful on all levels of the matter. I have been in the teenage phase for the past four years, and though it’s not always tough, there have been times where it has left me feeling exhausted, depleted, and downright insufficient to be a mom. My teenagers, as well as all teenagers on this planet, will deal with hormones, mood swings, wanting independence, and being an adult. These desires are not wrong by any means; it’s part of life, and we can help them get where they need to be. They are trying to find themselves and figure out this phase of life, and it’s tough for them and for us moms. Now I’m far, far

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This Is What I Do When My Child Has “Big Emotions”

By Rachel Hagstrom / Motherhood

I lay down in bed with my daughter, snuggle close, and whisper, “Guess what? You have a superhero power.” The last 45 minutes have driven me to a state of sensory overload. The loud cries and tantrum-type behavior heightened by end-of-day depletion leave my nerves frazzled and on edge. The lines of communication blurred after my girl spouted off about something I asked her to do before getting ready for bed. I reacted in equal measures of frustration and disrespect, and shortly after, everything imploded. I’m ticked at her, but mostly at myself and the way I responded. I’m worn out; the sleepless nights are doing a number on me and on my headspace. I’m tempted to wave the white flag of

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If Your Daughter Is Boy-Crazy, You Need to Read This

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood

My daughters entered life as different creatures when it came to the opposite sex. To one, the attention of boys meant a lot. The other, well, not so much. I can’t say what created the difference; perhaps just their personalities because they came from the same gene pool. You may have one of those girls—maybe your daughter is boy-crazy, too! Since I was never one who was boy-crazy, I found it quite perplexing, feeling uncertain how to address this new frontier. My eldest daughter just liked the attention of boys. She wasn’t necessarily attached to them. In fact, we often said she discarded boys as one does a tissue in allergy season. I often felt sorry for those young men who showed

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This Is What I Learned About Life After My Rape and Pregnancy

By Monique Jackson King / HerStory, Motherhood

In 2009, I was ending a relationship that had me completely mesmerized! I was involved with this man for the previous five years in what was called, by today’s standards, a “situationship.” In other words, I was madly in love with a man who had no intention of honoring our relationship with validity or legitimacy. Each of my close friends would ask me what our status was, and my standard answer was, “We’re taking it day by day.” In my heart, I knew this wasn’t the love that was designed for me, but I also did not want to let go of the good conversation, the companionship, the intellectual stimulation, or the familiarity that it provided. I allowed that fear to blind

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