There are two kinds of parents, those who are reactors and those who are responders. Which one do you tend to be like? If you aren’t sure, let’s look at these more closely. A reactor generally doesn’t think before speaking or acting. You might hear things like, “What were you thinking?!!” or “That was so stupid!” It might even be that before you can hear another word, you are dishing out punishments. You go with your knee-jerk reaction, rather than taking time to think things out. Responders are the type of people who think before they speak or act. There … Continue reading →

Each day we make deposits into our children’s lives. This really struck me after reading Stephen R. Covey’s book, “The 8th Habit.” Although this book has nothing to do with parenting, there was something that really struck me: “We don’t even know what a deposit is to another person unless we understand that person from his or her frame of reference. What may be a high-level, high-value deposit to you may be a low-level, low-value deposit to another—or even a withdrawal.” I find this to be very true as a mother of three teenagers. I can think I am making … Continue reading →

What are the three things that can plaque a mother? It is worry, control and judging. And I would guess these are common issues for most mothers. It doesn’t matter what stage of life you are in, they can swoop in and overtake you. Why do we worry? Sometimes it is out of genuine concern. But other times our worry is based on a lack of trust or that everything won’t turn out exactly the way we think it should. Worry can keep us up at night. It has for me. It can consume you so much that you can’t … Continue reading →