I was doing my laundry the other day with my toddler, who had been following me about the house as I completed my morning chores. As I began to transfer the washed clothes into the dryer, my toddler asked to help. I did not respond right away and he became angry. I looked at him and said, "Oh, you want to help"? Then, I handed him an article of clothing to put into the dryer. His mood changed instantly as soon as I acknowledged him and allowed him to help me.

My mother and I love to be in the garden. A friend of mine once called it "dirt therapy," and I believe that there is a lot of truth to that statement. As foodies, mom and I are always trying to figure out and plan what things we can grow that are beautiful and edible. Plus, if they are perennial, meaning that they come back on their own every year, then all the better! Here is a short list of some of our favorite herbs, plus what they are good for!

Have you decided to homeschool your children? Does it seem like a daunting task? Just breathe. With a little forethought and planning and (not as much effort as you think) you will be able to give your children a far better education than you think. The modern day model of education is a very new model in the view of human history; however, the majority of people accept it as it is and would rather change churches than change the way they educate their children. How many pare

Every new parent experiences "new-parent-stress." Some of that stress requires just some deep breathing and work. However, I believe that there is also some unnecessary stress that parents, mothers especially, place upon themselves. Here are some of my mothers words of wisdom that will hopefully eliminate the avoidable stress as you enjoy the early days of parenthood.  Pray for and trust your husband Early on, I was very controlling and expected things to run a certain way. T

Does your child struggle with greeting others? Does saying hello and goodbye turn into a long and painful process where you are left embarrassed and unsure of what to do? Here are some thoughts that will hopefully make social interactions more pleasant for you and your child. #1 Respect your child. This little person is learning how to do things in life and you are teaching them how to treat others primarily by how you treat them. This doesn't mean to allow disrespectful beha

Do you have children? If the answer is yes, then this post is for you. At some point in a woman's motherhood, she will find a skin eruption on her child and wonder where it came from and whether it is serious or not. I am a huge proponent of a mother's intuition. If your gut says that something is wrong, then do something about it.

Good parents want the best for their kids. Yet, the duties and the curveballs of life will limit us in many ways from doing “all the things” and being “all the things” to our children. One of the most, if not THE MOST, important thing to do for a child’s education and development is to instill in him a love of reading. If a child loves to read, then he will love to learn, and will learn, his entire life. Reading is also a vital part of developing a child's life skills and hel

Growing up, as the oldest of eight children from the same two parents, I never thought of our family as "large." I guess when your friends are from families with ten or more children, that is bound to happen. However, in today's society, families are getting smaller. That saddens me because I loved being from a big family, and I think all of my siblings did. Now that I am raising a family, five children is supposedly a "large" family. Whether you have three or five or ten ch

I come from a long line of women who prioritize health over beauty. I am not saying that they do not like to look beautiful, because they do, and they love to get all dressed up and pretty. But, my mother, grandmother and great-grandmothers were picky, but simple about what they would put on their skin. Here is what works for us:

My mom always says, "There is something so satisfying about watching a child eat something nutritious." I agree with her. I love to watch my children eat and know that their little body is being well fed. As a mom who is invested in the present and future health of my children, I am pretty passionate about healthy food.