Motherhood Challenges Need a Grit and Grace Life

New Mom Survival Guide: Boundaries that Will Keep You Sane

The pregnancy struggle is real. Doctors, books, and apps prepare us for the aches, the weight gain, the stretch marks, but fail to warn us about one of the sneakiest struggles as a new mom, unsolicited advice. “Oh man, you think you’re tired now. Just wait till the baby is born.” “Let me tell you, giving birth was just awful. So, what happened to me was…” “Just wait until….” “You know, you really should…” Well-meaning friends, family, Instagram influencers, and even strangers chime in with advice on how pregnancy and child-rearing should be handled. We mothers are tasked with protecting ourselves and our children from unsolicited advice and comparison, learning to appreciate the good while protecting against the unhealthy. Balance Advice with […]

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This Mama Is Getting Her Pink Back

By Kimberly Trigo / Motherhood, Best Of

Tomorrow, I return to the working world for the first time since I left J.P. Morgan Chase in 2014 to be a stay-at home mom to my twins. I have never regretted that decision, even in the moments where I could not afford a purchase or in the tantrum-riddled days where I could not seem to catch my breath until they were fast asleep. Looking back on these last 8 years, it all went so fast. A Helpful Flamingo Analogy My niece recently shared with me a little trivia about flamingos and how they lose their pink color while taking care of their young. As the flamingos start to get more independent, the mama starts to get her pink back. I am

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How to Wait With Grace During the Adoption Process

By Carey Melton / Motherhood, Best Of

Oh my goodness, it’s with tremendous humility that I write about adoption. To me, there is no greater honor than to have been chosen to adopt each of my babies. If you had asked me 10 years ago if I would ever be giving insight or even be passionate about such a precious gift, I would have very enthusiastically said, “Never!” I have to confess that I love my comfort zones. It’s something I’ve always struggled with—making sure I adjust, adapt, and prepare in order to be comfortable. I thought that if something was “hard” then I must not be doing it right. This really started after my mom passed away. I began to take every relationship and situation in my life

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How to Raise Strong, Confident Daughters With Darlene Brock

By Tess Lopez / Motherhood

In episode 63, These Strategies Will Help You Raise Great Kids, of our podcast, This Grit and Grace Life, Darlene Brock, co-founder and president of The Grit and Grace Project, shares some of her own parenting experiences and snippets of wisdom from her new book, Raising Great Girls. Having raised two caring and successful daughters of her own, Darlene penned her book in the hopes of encouraging other moms to push past the difficulties that often come with cultivating young ladies (or young men!). In Raising Great Girls, Darlene outlines various job descriptions, like Creative Counselor and Coach, that a parent must assume in order to mold a balanced daughter. She breaks down three of these job titles within the podcast and

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Who’s the Boss? 5 Ways to Be the One in Charge

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood, Best Of

Whether you have a two-year-old or a 10-year-old there are some days you may wonder who is in charge. It certainly doesn’t feel like it’s you. You won’t win every battle nor should you expect to. You can’t put it upon yourself to effectively crack the whip, so to speak, impeccably correcting each and every transgression any child is capable of. But there are a few absolutes you need to incorporate into your life just to keep peace on the home front, guide your kids toward acceptable behavior, and some days, to simply maintain your sanity. 1. Know your child. There may come a time when you find your child disassembling the new toy that you spent an hour on just successfully

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Less is More in Your Child’s Schedule

By Geinene Carson / Motherhood

It doesn’t take long after a new school year begins for our family to realize we need to dial back our activities. With the start of a new grade comes the introduction of new opportunities and an abundance of activities that fight for our children’s attention. While many, if not all, provide great avenues for our kids to discover and develop their talents and interests, our family has come to the conclusion that less can often be more. It’s easy to fall into the temptation of signing our children up for every possible activity, but is it really the best? Certainly, as parents we hold a part of the responsibility in helping to develop our children’s character and gift sets with the goal to

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Simple Guidelines for Traveling With Kids and How to Enjoy It

By Amber Koehn / Motherhood

Let’s just get this out in the open: vacationing with children is a daunting affair to think about. There’s planning and packing and food and travel and lodging and food (because they always eat). Should you plan a lot of activities? Should you keep it simple? What is on the menu (because they always eat)? The stress of the process can make even the most seasoned travel mom want to fold and plan a staycation instead. The getaway becomes more like a chore you have to do rather than an enjoyable experience for everyone. But no matter if it’s your first trip or your fiftieth, I’ve got a few tried and true tips that will leave you anticipating your next vacation, not

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Raising Great Girls—Are You Up to the Task?

By The Grit and Grace Team / Motherhood

In the introduction to Raising Great Girls, author Darlene Brock makes an eye-opening observation about motherhood: experience isn’t necessary. It’s a truth that can chill your spine if you’ve never thought about it before. In a world where entry-level job positions still somehow require three to five years of experience, the most challenging—yet rewarding—job a woman will ever encounter calls for none. Just a heart that’s full of love and ready to grow. After raising two happy, strong and successful girls of her own, Darlene decided to share her hard-earned parenting secrets. She offers a candid look at the struggles every mom will face, but not without practical advice to handle them. Each chapter in the book is named for the roles

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If Your Kid is Being Bad, Does That Make You a Bad Mom 2

Your Bad Kid Doesn’t Make You a Bad Mom

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood, Best Of

You have just received your first phone call, the one every mother dreads and hopes to never receive. The preschool wants you to know that your child is hitting or biting or kicking. That little guy or girl, who has never shown this behavior before, has apparently turned into the class tyrant. It was in kindergarten when my daughter demonstrated her prowess in tormenting others. I dropped this sweet, little dressed up diva at her elementary school and all was going relatively well for the first few months. Then I received my first phone call. She had kicked a little boy. This led to discussion, punishment, and resolution. A week went by and then I got the next call; she had hit another student.

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Sending Your Kids to College—Separation Anxiety or Blissful Freedom?

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood

So you’ve just spent hours in the Target dorm room aisles… Shopping for color-coordinated linens and accessories for your daughter’s new dorm room. Or, if it’s your son, you were probably trying to convince him that he actually needs a bedspread to go along with his trunk full of technology (that will absolutely make it into his new “college student man cave”). Now you’ve delivered them, set up their new world, and driven or flown away. You feel the anxiety of their absence. Can they get along without you making sure the laundry is done, the curfew is adhered to, and the insurance is paid? Well, you’ve spent the last 18 years getting them to this point, so the assumption is that

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Childhood Trauma—How to Spot it, How to Heal it

By Amanda-Lee Pitzer / Life & Culture, Motherhood

I sat down at my desk after running off school campus to grab a coffee. A message “sent with high importance” sat blinking on my computer. My heart sank. Another message letting me know that my son was having a hard time in class and to come see him when I could. Right away, I thought, “WHEN will this end? What am I doing wrong?” and off I ran to his classroom. I peeked around the corner to his class, trying hard not to let any of his classmates see me. The last thing I needed for him to get embarrassed because mommy had to show up again. I motioned for him to come into the hallway and saw the look on

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50+ Activities for Kids That Are Free or Really Cheap

By Loren Brock / Motherhood

Does anyone else feel like they are spinning in circles in place this summer? Mamas, you feel me? This season is bringing out the grit and grace in me more than ever. As a mom of a 5-year-old boy, we have done coloring, LEGOs, and screen time. We’ve read books, run in literal circles, and I’ve found myself needing more ideas. So, I set out on a mission to search the inter-web, rack my brain, and ask friends for some assistance. To save you all this research, below are 50-plus ideas to keep the kiddos entertained (they might also learn a thing or two!). Good for most any age (very little assembly required!): 1. Make photo books online and look out for

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Talking to Your Teens About the Grey Area

By Amy Saxby / Motherhood, Best Of

The Grey Area. It’s not black and white. It’s blurry. It’s the place in dating relationships that nobody talks about. While they may not act like it, our teenagers find safety in boundaries, and they want direction in defining them. As you know, it’s all too common that a variety of media platforms inform and shape our teenagers’ perspectives of what dating and marriage should look like. How do we step into this? Teenagers Want to Talk About the Grey Areas This past fall, a good friend of mine and I asked a group of high school girls if they would be interested in discussing these tricky topics. The group of girls consisted of about 12 high school juniors and seniors. We were delighted and

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You Need to Know This Before Having a Baby

By Laila Schell / Motherhood

Over the last year and a half, the number of family members and friends who have been expecting is crazy! Love has definitely been in the air, or in the water, or whatever they say. With that has come lots of opportunities to share my life experiences and trials. That’s why I was so inspired to write this article. The first time I gave birth was a long time ago. 16 years, to be exact, and if you’ve read my other posts then you’re probably trying to do the math. I’ll save you the trouble. I got pregnant at 16. We can talk more about that later though. Since then I have had three more kids. Most recently, seven months ago, and

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It Feels Like My Teen Is Rejecting Me, But I Know It’s Something Else

By Michelle Hurst / Motherhood

When my daughter hit puberty she moved straight into her room. It seemed dramatic and overnight, not a gradual release. One day I can’t get a minute alone and the next I hardly know she lives here—except for all the half-filled cups she leaves all over the house. One day she drones on and on about horses, YouTubers, recess, and pizza in the cafeteria, and the next she answers with as few syllables as possible. I do my best to lure her out from her room with the promise of her favorite foods or movies, but mostly she retreats. Some days I hear music, and other days I hear power tools from behind her closed door. She rearranges. She paints her nails.

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Another School Shooting, We Must Prepare Our Kids

In the Wake of Another School Shooting, How to Prepare Our Kids

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood, Life & Culture

Another school shooting and our hearts clench. The image of another mother clinging to a photo of the child instantly taken from her while doing nothing more than attending school rips the hearts and strikes fear into every other parent. While the debate will continue on gun control, that’s not the discussion I want to have because I think there is something much more pressing that every mother needs to do. Prepare your kids. In every part of their lives, it is our job to prepare them. The thought of having this be a conversation required to raise children today seems almost outrageous. But we have to face our current reality, so it is one we unquestionably need to have. It’s time

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Happy Mother’s Day! Raising Great Girls, Free Now!

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood

Moms, it’s almost Mother’s Day! As an act of solidarity with my fellow girl moms, I want to give you a gift. I didn’t have boys, so if you’re a boy mom, I can’t help you as much there. But from May 5-9, my Raising Great Girls Kindle eBook is absolutely free. If you’re anything like I was in my motherhood journey, you probably have times of feeling every insecurity, a bit of a failure, with a boatload of mom guilt mixed in. I’m sure you also have seasons you think “I’ve got this!” and you do! But no matter the season you find yourself in, I want to give you some of what hindsight taught me: hard-earned wisdom that I share

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