Parenting w/Love & Baggage

Be a Coach not a Boss

This parenting advice that came to me via email was just what I needed to set me back on track after a tough week falling back into bad parenting patterns. I hope it helps someone today! Be a Coach to Your Children I’m sure that as you look around you see other families who have…

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Too Busy to Play

It seems that I’ve been so busy doing…(field trips, shopping, baking, blogging, laundry, cooking) that there hasn’t been much time to enjoy my family. There’s always something that needs to be done and being the choleric that I am, I usually make time to do it. Some of the things I do are really good.…

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Communicating With Your Children

Mary E. DeMuth is hosting a contest all of us moms would be grateful to win. Here’s Mary with the details! Want to connect with your kids every single day, but don’t know how? Why not start a conversational revolution tonight? Straight to your inbox, ready to print and cut out, you’ll receive 150 life-delving…

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‘Tis the Season for Family Friction

Due to too much time blogging and not writing time restraints, I’m getting more choosy in the books I’m featuring here on Portrait. When I got an invite to participate in the blog tour For Parents Only by Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa A. Rice, I almost passed it up. But it was this that caught…

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Please Indulge Me While I Brag

Grace started taking gymnastics when she was three, but it was a nightmare just getting her into class. I was still homeschooling the boys (the were at PE during this time) and I really wanted to take advantage of the workout room for parents. I would never know if she’d “let go of me” and…

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Care.com: Innovative Childcare and more without the Hassle!

With no family in town, finding babysitting has always been a hassle for our family. That’s why ten years ago we started the Babysitting co-op. A group of families got together and started swapping babysitting and keeping track of how often each couple went out and watched others. It’s been great for these past ten…

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What a Mom Would Say…Can You Relate?

Check out this video! I’m clueless as how to put a You Tube video on my blog. Anyone care to explain??? I tried pasting the embedded code and it didn’t work.

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And They Say Women Are Finicky

 I’m reposting some oldies but goodies since I’m not yet home and don’t have the time to really process everything that happened at the conference. Enjoy, and if you do, please comment. My heart is to really have this blog be a dialogue, a two-way communication of thoughts and experiences and hopefully make some really…

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I’m a Mean Mommy

It’s true, according to my kids. And looking through their eyes I have to agree. But what they see as mean is really trying to gain respect and control of my children’s behavior. I mean to be firm, but it comes out harsh. Not the best way to change their little hearts and get them…

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A Camping They Have Gone…

I can remember the first time Chris went to sleep away camp. I was a nervous wreck! There was sooo much to worry about. That was about 4 years ago. Chris and Joey left for camp earlier this week and while I had my initial motherly worries, there was no fear. Of course we’ve prayed…

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