School Age Kids | Grit and Grace Life

Working Mom Guilt, When You Love Your Work

By Carey Melton / Work & Money, Featured Article, Motherhood

I have to start this off with a confession. I sat down to write this article four different times but couldn’t put it all into words. None of it made sense. I am simply dealing with working mom guilt who loves her work. The words sounded so silly, confusing, and insignificant. But, as I sit here at the start of the school day, literally with tears in my eyes because I’ve just dropped off a five-year-old to kindergarten, a three-year-old to preschool, and I am in my classroom awaiting the flood of students, I can honestly say that everyone is right where they are supposed to be, and it all makes sense now. I’m stepping back into the classroom after over three […]

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To the Woman Who Cleaned up After My Autistic Son

You Don’t Have to Make an Income to Contribute to Your Family

By Amber Koehn / Motherhood

All my life, I wanted to be a mother. It’s just something I knew, deep down, I was meant to be. I also knew that I would have to work outside the home, because if I stayed at home all day with kids, I would go crazy. To me, I didn’t think I could be fulfilled or feel important if I wasn’t working full-time. It’s kind of funny sometimes how life proves a person wrong. After my first two daughters were born, I thought I had a system all figured out. My husband ran a restaurant at the time, so he was never home. He also decided to go back to school full-time and earn his degree, so I was the one

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well-dressed woman walking in the street holding hands with her young perfectionist daughter

5 Things I Needed My Parents to Tell Me as a Young Perfectionist

By Alycia Dantier / Motherhood

You’re such a failure. Get it together. You’re worthless. I gritted my teeth, fighting tears as I re-read the fat red “B+” on my essay. Defeated, I walked out of my middle school. Numb, I slumped into the minivan. “How was your day?” Mom asked. I burst into tears. She pulled over, squeezing me tight. My salty tears splotched her worn cardigan. She whispered, “You’re not a failure. You’re amazing. I love you.” The Power of a Parent’s Words Oh, the power of a parent’s words. Her encouragement made me feel safe from my inner critic. Maybe I’m not a failure? Parents’ attitudes forms a child’s view of themselves, for better or worse. As a coach working with young perfectionists to rebuild

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8 Things Moms Should Say to Raise Strong Kids

Say These 8 Phrases to Raise Strong Kids

By Rachel Hagstrom / Motherhood

In their most powerful form, words have the ability to shape one’s character, self-esteem, and relationships. They can impact us for better or worse for the rest of our lives. As moms, our words in particular shape our children, and the longer my motherhood journey continues, the more I discover this to be true. I’ve witnessed the positive impact of my words—evidenced by my girls’ grins, hugs, and outward joy—as well as the pain that my words can illicit, spoken in the moments of impatience or anger. Both can have a lingering effect. If you’re like me and looking to add more life-giving phrases to your everyday vernacular, here are 8 things (outside of “I love you”) you should consider saying to

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Natural Teeth Whitening—For Your Child and You

By Ashby Duval / Motherhood, Health & Beauty

Lately, I’ve noticed my oldest son’s permanent teeth look a bit yellow compared to my other three boys, who still have their baby teeth. Of course, my first assumption was that he wasn’t brushing correctly. Or worse yet, he’s skipping his brushing altogether. But after a few weeks of supervising and not noticing a big difference, I started to do a bit of research. Apparently, baby teeth are naturally whiter than permanent teeth. One pediatric dentist explains that “permanent teeth not only have a thicker enamel, but the layer under the enamel (dentin) is also more dense. Dentin is yellow in color. This gives the permanent teeth a color slightly more yellow than the baby teeth. And it’s perfectly normal!”(¹) There is

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A Parent’s Guide to Halloween and How to Handle It

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture

It was Halloween day, and this was the first year my daughter realized it might just be a great event in which she wanted to participate. She was barely four years old and until that time my husband and I had avoided stepping into the chaos of this holiday. My husband’s attitudes were born out of his complete distaste for many of the things that came with this particular evening. I didn’t necessarily disagree with him, but I circumvented it simply because I had enough to do without adding it to the list! But we couldn’t avoid it this year. We desperately needed a parent’s guide to Halloween, but there wasn’t one. Our daughter wanted to dress up; she wanted to grab

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On Life and Childhood Cancer, From a Pediatric Oncology Nurse

By Rachel Graham / Life & Culture

After her morning coffee, cuddles with her gorgeous Weimaraners, and a little bit of knitting (she’s admittedly a grandma trapped in a millennial’s body), Amanda heads to work, ready to bring light and comfort to her tiniest patients as they fight cancer. You may not know, but September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Perhaps you’ve seen the phrase “Fight like a kid” on a t-shirt or social media post recently and wondered what that’s about. It’s to bring awareness to the children who are battling for their lives. Some of us have never been around a child with cancer, but for others, this month hits close to home because of the fight they’ve shared. The reality of this month is that one

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Raise Your Boy to Become a Strong Man

By Ashby Duval / Motherhood, Featured

As a mom of four boys, I am thinking of the attack on manhood lately. It seems like I know a lot of great women and not too many great, strong men. I guess it depends on what your deﬁnition of a great man is, but I think most of us can agree on what it is not. And that’s not who you want to raise your boy to be! Unfortunately, due to cultural inﬂuences and the period we live in, I believe there is a rise in the number of passive, lazy, and entitled “boys who can shave.” Men who still live in their parent’s basements play video games for as long as possible, thus putting oﬀ such beautiful privileges such

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Back to School Lessons Kids Won’t Find in Books – 246

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreAre your kids heading back to school? They’ll undoubtedly learn a few math equations or how to read between the lines of a historical novel, but some of the most important back to school lessons your kids will take away from this school year are the ones that will carry them through life. In this episode of This Grit and Grace Life, Darlene Brock and Julie Bender discuss how, as a parent, you play a critical role in facilitating how well your kids receive these life lessons. They share how to instill guidance in your kids around things like: how their conduct (positive or negative) impacts others

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Take It Easy—On Your Kids

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood

So you want to be a great mom. I’m sure there are some days you think the world expects you to be a perfect mom. Well, some people do expect that from you, those silly folks. They will also tell you that your child needs to tow the line with the expectations placed by the powers that be. But I’m telling you, no they do not. While we want to help our children grow up to be productive, loving, kind adults, we don’t want to force them into a one-size-fits-all little person. There are some things that the clamoring masses tell us we should deal with in our children that just aren’t true. The challenges you face with your little person may well be

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Why This Kind of Dad Makes a Strong Kid

By Ashley Johnson / Life & Culture

My husband and I were watching a singing competition the other night, and I noticed an interesting trend during the competitors’ interviews. Time after time, the contestants made similar claims. The reason they were standing there, taking a televised risk, was because of their father or father figure. For most, the influence of a positive male role model made a difference in their lives. It’s what made them a strong kid, promoting an overall confidence and a healthy self-esteem. The kind of confidence you need to pursue big dreams. This observation sparked a new curiosity within me. Why do fathers make such an impact? What is it about a dad’s role, specifically, that seems to almost make or break a child? While Grit

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This Mom Is Sending out an SOS That Will Make You LOL

By Laila Schell / Motherhood

In the spirit of keeping it real with you, I thought I’d write today on how much of a hot mess I am. Side note, it’s currently 3:53 pm (I like to call this time the witching hour in our house), and I’m hiding in a dark room listening to my 5-year-old “make juice” for supper. If you already have kids then you know how bad this is and if you don’t, then let me tell you, it’s bad. I just don’t have the energy today to stop him. And I’m in over my head. It probably started last night but it’s all kind of a blur right now. I went to visit a friend’s new place after dropping my teenage daughter off

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The Most Devastating Words You Can Say as Mom

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood

I was listening to the radio a while back, and the three grown men who were hosting began a dialogue about punishments they were given as a child. The list was vast. They laughed through their comparisons of infractions they accomplished and the penalties they were awarded: grounding, car keys taken away, dad’s belt was among them. Then one of these gentlemen paused and said, “I’ll tell you the worst—it’s when my mom said, ‘I’m disappointed in you.’ That one was horrible.” The moaning and commiserating began. “That’s the truth; there’s nothing worse. It makes you feel awful,” one said. “Yeah, my mom said that and I remembered it for days. There is nothing worse than disappointing your mom,” replied another. Now, these

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Say These 8 Phrases to Raise Strong Kids

By Rachel Hagstrom / Motherhood

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A Kid in Last Place Can Make a Mom Proud

By Michelle Hurst / Motherhood

No one would ever mistake me for a dance mom. I can barely tell the difference between a leotard and a swimsuit. My girl has been in dance for over four years and I’d still rather vacuum than help her put wiggle into tights – which is really saying a lot. Her debut was a Junior League Christmas shopping event where they had squeezed a stage in the corner and invited local dance studios to perform while women shopped for all things Santa and rhinestones. My daughter was barely out of pull ups. I realize this is awfully young for organized classes of any kind but after much pressure from anyone who watched her shake and twirl anywhere music was playing, I

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Dear Stay At Home Mom: I Want You to Know These 8 Things

By Ashby Duval / Motherhood

Dear Stay-at-Home Mom, If you had told me 10 years ago that I would end up being a stay at home mom who home-schooled her children, I would have straight up punched you in the throat—then laughed. Then probably punched you again. I’m only telling you this to give you a better idea of your author. I didn’t plan on this role, but I didn’t plan on marriage or children either, and I had no idea how much they would turn my life and my heart upside down—for the better! Maybe this was always your dream, or maybe you fell into this role as I did. Regardless, if you’re a SAHM, you probably need some encouragement and, most likely, some sanity today.

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8 Children’s Books That Will Make You Laugh and Cry

By Tess Lopez / Motherhood

During my one-year reign as an elementary school library assistant, I learned a lot about children. And books. And, of course, children’s books. I was always charmed when they tittered up to check their books out, bouncing with excitement as they mustered up all their strength to heave the books onto the counter with gusto. As I entered their information into the computer, they gleefully tapped their hands on the covers of the books and earnestly explained why they were excited about these particular choices. “My sister read this one, and it was sooo cute!” “This dog looks just like my dog at home. He’s brown with black spots, too.” “Ms. Bolen read this one on the morning news, and it was

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