Perspectives in Parenting

Give Your Family a Worldly Experience: Host a High School Exchange Student Are you searching for a way to expose your children to different cultures or add a little vibrancy to your house? Volunteering to host an exchange student is a great way to experience different cultures and it offers numerous benefits for you and your family. Now is a great time to select a student to host for the upcoming school year. Doing so will allow you to start communicating with the student and preparing for his or her arrival. Who can host an exchange student? From traditional families to single parents and empty-nesters, host families come in many different forms. Host families have high school-aged children, toddlers, or no children...

Preparing Kids For A Move Moving is a big event. It is stressful and overwhelming and tiresome...for adults. Imagine what it does to a kid. I moved a lot as a kid and I was not a fan. When we decided it was time to start looking for a new home I wanted to be sure our kids were involved (as much as they could be) in the process. Starting the Process I think it is important to have the kids as involved as they can be for their age(s). When we went to look at houses we brought both of our kids with us. Partially out of lack of baby sitter and partially because it will be their home too. We...

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...

You’re Gonna Miss This I still follow all the breastfeeding support groups and pages I utilized while nursing. Day after day I see moms asking for advice, for recommendations, for simple acknowledgement that they’re doing the right thing. From time to time I comment, hoping to help. I’ve been out of the breastfeeding game for 2 years now and I still miss it very often. I miss the bond with my children. I miss the milk drunk smiles and their little hands rubbing my face while they happily nursed. I look back on that time with so much fondness. I’ve breastfed 3 out of my 4 children. My daughter nursed for three and a half years, my two youngest sons each nursed...

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,...