Encouragement

Fostering Healthy Body Acceptance In Your Teen Daughter Teaching a young girl how to accept and love her body starts with her mother. You will be a mirror to either her strengths or her insecurities. It's up to you to decide which she will reflect on. She will already be bombarded with the unattainable world of filters, advertising, TikTok videos, and the latest internet celebrity. She will hear the gossip of peers calling out the too fat, too thin, too tan, not tan enough, too tall, too short, anything too much, making her feel less than. But you momma, can lessen the damage of these things. Never Criticize Yourself in Her Presence Momma I'm with you. I've got pounds to lose. There...

The Pink and Gold Sparkly Road :: How Joining a Local Dance Krewe Enhanced my Life Three years ago, I was recovering from a devastating divorce, and learning how to navigate this new life of being a single mom, after a decade spent being a traditional wife. I had little self-confidence or direction after devoting myself to a husband and raising children and losing myself along the way. It was time to get back to work and find myself again. This took a lot of hard work and luckily meeting new friends who would challenge me. After getting myself back into the workforce, seeking out new opportunities to partake in, including a beach co-ed volleyball team for a couple of years,...

Forging Friendships In Your Forties Growing up, I had a ready-made friendship group. Most of my childhood friends lived in my neighborhood or nearby and we all went to school together starting with kindergarten all the way through high school. In those early years I never really had to build friendships. Due to our proximity, we just were.  In college, I had to work a little harder at making friends, but not by much. My dorm roommates were naturally my first college friends. Then, I would make connections with people that I had things in common with whether it was having the same major, being from the same city or having similar taste in clothing. Still, college was very much...

Mom Guilt: Will It Ever Go Away? Mom guilt is a common phenomenon experienced by many mothers, often characterized by feelings of inadequacy, doubt, and self-blame. Whether it's struggling to balance work and family responsibilities, feeling guilty about taking time for oneself or questioning parenting decisions, mom guilt can be overwhelming and distressing. Mom guilt can stem from various sources, including societal expectations, internalized pressure to be a perfect parent, and comparisons with other mothers. It often manifests as feelings of guilt for not meeting perceived standards of motherhood, whether it's related to spending enough quality time with children, providing the best possible care, or making the right choices for their development. I have been an educator for nearly 15 years,...

Take The Day Off Once upon a time, before I had my youngest, I hated taking time off. I can’t explain it. I would drive from Zachary to New Orleans and back again, just for work. Looking back, that was insane (for me because I don’t like to drive that much). Once, I had a tire completely blow out and still drove to work. I even did it when I was the only one getting up with a newborn, even pregnant with the absolute worst morning (all day) sickness.  Looking back, I wonder about all of the things I missed that I didn’t have to miss. My big boy went through so many milestones in nursery. Even though I was friendly...