Encouragement

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...

Pulse Check Survey :: Where Are You On Meeting Your 2024 Goals? PULSE CHECK TIME! We are officially nearing completion of the first two months of the new year. Some decided to forego the new year’s goals and resolutions to lower self-inflicted pressures, which can certainly be beneficial for some life seasons. Others have risen to the challenge of defining ambitious objectives for the new year. For the moms who are determined to set goals, like myself, here’s a simple pulse-check to help identify if you are on track. At the beginning of this year, we learned how to set goals for 2024 and keep them. Helpful tips of creating specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals, also known as SMART goals,...

Unapologetically Weird Growing up family events put me in a perpetual state of anxiety. My cousins were not my friends. In fact, they barely spoke to me. It made me feel like such an outcast at the time. I remember dreading holidays and only got through them with either a book in my face or with the help of my I-Pod shuffle. I just never fit in. This didn’t follow me into school though, I found my own friend group pretty easily and was happy to spend time with people I related to. As I grow older though, the feeling of being ‘the outcast’ has made its way back into my life. It's not always easy to embrace our uniqueness, especially...

Dear Single Moms in Baton Rouge, We are a little over a month into the new year, and reflecting on life seasons and growth is often helpful in motivating ourselves for what the year has to offer. I was a single mom for three years, and when I think back to my moments as a single mom, several words come to mind that describe me at that time: survivor, warrior, worrier, depleted, and lonely. I had the most wonderful gift in the world, my baby girl, but with the blessing came immense challenges. At the time, I was the only single mother at the job that I worked, so my work ethic and performance had to rival those with much more resources,...

Unresolutions {Part 1} My family lived a ludicrous year 2023. We dealt with 11 months of recurrent-boil-raising MRSA in both our kids (and the attendant dozens of doctors' appointments). Our older son was bullied at school, and we spent almost the entire academic year battling an administration that refused to address the problem, file the appropriate (and legally required) paperwork, or change his classroom environment. We had put our mortgage in forbearance, not knowing that would mean having to pay back a 5-digit amount all at once at the end of that period despite the mortgage company's casual assurances. A child brought a weapon to our older son's school, and the school administration neglected to inform the parents for over 2...