Encouragement

If you've ever been bullied, I'm sure some well-meaning adult taught you to repeat, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." But they are wrong. They are so very wrong. Don't believe me? Did your parent or grandparent ever say something to you that to this day still has some sting to it? Childhood bullies can have that same effect, and it can stay with you for a lifetime. All words matter, and they are long-lasting scars that never truly heal. We carry the baggage for the rest of our lives. The load certainly feels lighter with time, but it never goes away.  To My Childhood Bullies :: Your Words Do Hurt I'm sharing my story...

I feel like the word "millennial" gets a lot of negative attention. People like to categorize our generation as being spoiled, uninformed and lazy. Someone born in the millennial generation is defined by Webster as “a person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century.” Well that is me. I am a youngish mom born in the late 1980s attempting to do this parenting thing the best I can. Here are some fun facts about me that maybe some of you fellow Millennial Moms can relate to: 1. I am a different type of mom than my mother. I try to skate the line of “no boundaries parenting” and being a complete helicopter mom. I want my kids to grow and...

It’s a new year, and the word “resolution” has resurfaced everywhere – in the news, on your Facebook feed, from your friends, even on your family goal list. We associate the word with a fresh start or new beginning, typically made at the start of the new year. Some resolutions can be brand new, but I prefer to categorize many of them as continued improvements. Some of you may know I’m a little bit of a control freak. It has become even more glaring as my kids grow. So much of being a parent is not having control of much, especially since it involves raising tiny people who are growing into their own personalities and having their own thoughts. I started...

This blog post is the fifth and final installment of a collaborative 5-part series entitled The Mother Within. Start at the beginning here. We go about our days raising our children to be their best, strive for perfection and work hard to achieve success. My parents raised me with the same mantra and now, like many parents, I expect the same from my children. These teachings have followed me throughout my entire life. As a mom I think it's only normal to strive for our own personal state of perfection as well. When I fall short in some area of my life, I will ask myself  "Am I enough?" Busy day after busy day I hurriedly move through life constantly questioning my abilities,...

This blog post is the fourth installment of a collaborative 5-part series entitled The Mother Within. Start at the beginning here. Perhaps you are career woman turned mother, and you are wondering how those women on TV make it seem like you really can have it all. I'm here to tell you that you too can have it all; you just can't have it all at once.  Let's pretend for a moment that you have unlimited resources and hire nannies for your children. You can hire assistants to handle all those classroom parties and responsibilities. You are making enough money to pay for all of it, but your time and availability are limited because you have to work. You have the finances to...