Julie Voiceover Category

School Age Kids

From kindergarteners to tweens, we’re here to help you parent school age kids confidently & successfully with some great reads on what you might face in this stage of childhood. #gritandgracelife

the loss of my son is changing how i teach my children healthy emotions

Losing My Son Has Changed How I Teach My Children Healthy Emotions

I’m a mom of three boys, and while I know from experience that prepubescent girls have their own struggles, I am beginning to learn about the struggles of prepubescent boys. My ten-year-old middle son had one of those days today. It was one of those days where it feels like everything is going wrong. He got his first zit, didn’t sleep well last night, and everything just feels “icky” as he stated it. It makes me feel terrible to see him this way. My initial emotional reaction is always the same, “Quick, make him feel better!” Just as quickly as that thought appears, it fades and my reasoning takes over. In my head, I know that I am robbing him of integral […]

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my sons communicated better when i used these 5 techniques

My Sons Communicated Better When I Used These 5 Techniques

Communication is a key ingredient in every healthy relationship. I think most of us would agree with that statement, especially when talking about our relationship with our spouse. But what about our relationships with the other men in our lives? By the other men in my life, I am referring to my two sons. Here are 5 techniques I used at different stages of their lives to help them open up and communicate more with me. 1. Ask Specific Questions and Pick the Right Time When they are small, we teach our children to “use their words” to communicate what they need or want and even how they feel. As they grow, go to school, and have interactions on their own, we

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when i feel like a bad mom i pray this for my kids

When I Feel Like a Bad Mom, I Pray This for My Kids

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) “I am not a perfect mom.” I have this thought—well, much harsher versions of it—more often than I’d like to admit. I lost my patience and yelled. I made PB&J for lunch and frozen chicken nuggets for dinner because I cannot seem to meal plan. I was on my phone too much. My house is a mess (better not post any pictures from today—yikes). I tried a “super easy” kids’ activity I found on Instagram that ended in my toddler eating the glue stick and coloring on the wall. I felt stressed out rather than present during our entire trip to the park because the kids were running in opposite directions, and all these

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A Letter to My Daughter on Body Image: May You Love All of You

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) Dear Daughter, We are together more than ever these days. I watch as you wake each morning, walk into your closet, and choose an outfit that doesn’t go together. You pull up your leggings without noticing the skin that spills over the tight waistband. You run a brush through your hair and carefully choose a headband or opt for a braid. I passively wonder if you wish for hair opposite of your own in texture and color. But there is no sighing or visible expression of disappointment as you comb through the tangles and frizz. Instead, you smile and make silly faces at your reflection in the mirror. Virtual school ends, and you’re

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This Grit and Grace Life Podcast

Stop People Pleasing Now With Cherlyn Decker – 159

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Email | TuneIn | RSS | MoreDo other people’s opinions affect how you feel about yourself? Often find yourself trying to please others, hoping they will see you as you want to be seen? If so, you’ll appreciate this episode. Darlene Brock and Julie Bender interview Cherlyn Decker—a speaker, writer, and coach who has helped hundreds of women turn their struggles into a source of strength. They discuss everyday battles many women face: people pleasing, mom guilt, and obsessing over what others think of them. Cheryln shares practical tools that can help you turn from these harmful habits, encouraging you to look back on past life experiences for how they “stack”

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4 ways to build a successful relationship with your child

4 Ways to Build a Successful Relationship With Your Child

There are a few things a mother needs to do to secure a successful relationship with her child. Perhaps I need to clarify—a relationship where you will win more than you lose. I have learned it is the most realistic and real definition of success. Because mom, you will win some and lose some. But that’s fine! It doesn’t matter your child’s age, nor whether you have a boy or girl. These 4 principles will apply to all. 1. Get to Know Your Child It seems like a mother should automatically know who her child is. At least, we have those expectations. But the truth is we don’t know. Whatever the day looks like, you are meeting this human for the first

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This Grit and Grace Life Podcast

5 Ways to Build a Strong Relationship with Your Kids – 158

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More The job of “mom” can be tough! A mother nurtures, disciplines, clothes, feeds and does her very best to protect, all while balancing many more jobs both in and out of the house. With each day abundantly filled, do you find it challenging to invest enough time in building the strong relationship with your kids that you desire? Mom, you are not alone! In this episode, we give five ways every mom can build that relationship at any stage of their kids’ lives. We share things you can do to develop their character while making treasured and lasting memories. Darlene (mom of adult daughters,

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Why i stopped deep cleaning my house to start enjoying my kids

Why I Stopped Deep-Cleaning My House to Start Enjoying My Kids

There’s an old adage that says, “Cleaning and scrubbing can wait ’til tomorrow, for babies grow up, we’ve learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.” A long-time friend of mine, who is years ahead of me in the parenting game, sent it to me one afternoon while I was in the middle of a mommy meltdown. I only had two of my four children at the time, and I was exasperated at the thought of never having a clean house again. It was during my full-time corporate days, while my husband was also running a restaurant and attending school full-time to obtain his accounting degree. Cleaning my house was

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Protecting Our Children From Human Trafficking (video)

Christy Ivie, the founder of Christy’s Cause, joins Julie Graham to provide practical, nitty-gritty tips for families to help protect their children from sex trafficking. She offers age-appropriate advice, what signs of vulnerability to look for in kids, and how to protect them from compromising situations. It’s up to us to advocate for the children in our community. If you see something, say something. Looking for more encouragement? Don’t miss: What You Need to Know About Human Trafficking What You Need to Protect Your Child From Sexual Exploitation The Solution to the Sex Trafficking Problem Bible Verses From the Grit and Grace Team on Self-Worth To hear more of Christy’s advice on sex trafficking listen to her interview at This Grit and

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This-is-What-Justin-Timberlake-Taught-Me-About-Motherhood-ORIG

This Is What Justin Timberlake Taught Me About Motherhood

Anyone else have the same albums saved on their iTunes account from the (dinosaur) days before streaming services? I must have downloaded Spotify around 2013 because when I’m not paying attention and plug my phone into my car, I’m listening to the likes of Nora Jones, Rascal Flatts, some old school Beyoncé, and Justin Timberlake. One of the songs that came on this morning was Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors,” a beautiful love ballad created for his wife. Today, however, I found myself sitting in the Target parking lot thinking on the lyrics to this song, not from the perspective of a love song, but from the perspective of a mother. His words struck me: “It’s like you’re my mirror, my mirror staring back

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Ask Dr. Zoe - How Do I Set Boundaries with My Invasive Mother-in-Law? feature image

Ask Dr. Zoe – How Can I Parent Positively When My Kids Drive Me Crazy?

‘Kim’ Asked: How can I parent with positivity? My kids drive me crazy. They refuse to help me or are mean to each other way too often. I find myself complaining to them and about them. Dr. Zoe Answered: You and every other mother who cares about her parenting have asked a question just like this. Not only is parenting the hardest job ever, it requires you to assume a different job description with each child. That’s enough to send you to the crazy bin just when you thought you had it all figured out. I can see why you are drawn to positive parenting, though. It sounds really nice. Like a calm, happy, agreeable family all smiling at each other in

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Sure, It Was a Disaster… But Not a Failure

Lately I’ve been feeling like a failure and I just can’t seem to shake it. Maybe it’s because I’ve been with my kids for six months straight and I literally can’t remember the last time the house was clean and quiet. Or maybe it’s because we’re smack in the middle of a pandemic and every single decision I make (or don’t make) has me questioning whether or not it’s the right one, and whether or not some crazy butterfly effect will take place six months down the road, where I’ll look back and realize I have done something terribly wrong. Either way, I just had to sit down and write about it because I have a feeling I’m not the only one,

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What Your Kids Get When You Let Them Fail NEW

What Your Kids Get When You Let Them Fail

I am not letting you off the hook as parents, but we seriously work way too hard sometimes. I’m talking about myself here. Scenario: I just got back home from taking my son to school. I have a million things to do in the next hour. I get an urgent text from my son saying that he forgot his iPad on the kitchen island (again) and needs it ASAP (of course!). Dilemma: I should really say no and let him learn his lesson, but it kills me that he will get an F because that assignment due today was on his iPad. Then my mind starts racing. This is high school! If he gets an F, it will affect his GPA. He

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Detangling the Lies You Believe in Motherhood

Detangling the Lies You Believe in Motherhood

I sat on the couch annoyed. I would be spending the next hour of my life detangling my two-year-old’s beautiful hair. Ever since she started preschool, she’s had this nervous habit of twirling her hair into knots. I am not referring to simple knots that are easily taken out by a comb. Picture instead a matted mess of dreads all along the left side of her head. After a long day of teaching, this was the seventh consecutive day that I had spent unknotting and untwisting the disaster. All I wished to do in that moment was to laugh with her, to read with her, or just do something halfway pleasant. Instead, she sat and watched Mickey Mouse and I was infuriated

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When You Don’t Love Your Kids’ Dreams

When You Don’t Love Your Kids’ Dreams

There is something to be said for a kid who knows what they want and won’t let it go. We all remember Ralphie from the timeless Christmas classic, “A Christmas Story,” and his infamous Red Ryder BB gun. We saw the joy it brought him and we rallied behind his dream of owning that gun. But we also saw how the adults in his life labeled his obsession as immaturity and a “little” dream. But it wasn’t little to him. With the humblest of intentions, we dream of our children growing up and living a comfortable American Dream life, and we decorate their nurseries with Hobby Lobby art that read phrases like “Dream big, little one” and “If you can dream it,

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Is School Starting or Not? Hope for Stressed Moms

Is School Starting or Not? Hope for Stressed Moms

I was in Walmart recently as they were filling the shelves with the annual back-to-school supplies. It’s 2020, and a new school year is starting. Or is it? Are they teaching in the classroom, or is the education they offer online? Or, are you faced with the option to choose? If you’re like most parents looking to their school board for guidance, you are still in uncharted and uncertain territory. As in most things, information comes from every side, and what it brings is almost impossible to weed through because it remains contradictory. The American Academy of Pediatrics says kids need to go to school, “the APA strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal

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A Simple Phrase That Will Encourage Every Mom

A Simple Phrase That Will Encourage Every Mom

It’s been happening for about a month now, this 3 a.m. visit. It starts with a creeping tip-toe, then a gentle tap on my shoulder. Sometimes there are tears, sometimes there aren’t. But it always ends the same, really, with an elbow in my ribs and a foot jammed into my husband’s back. Always. We’re really not sure why they started, these visits. If you ask my daughter during the daytime, when she’s wide awake and lucid, she wouldn’t be able to tell you. It’s a mystery even to her. But for whatever reason, every night for the past few weeks, she’s visited our bedroom in the wee hours of the morning, scared and needing comfort. So, of course, we open up

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