Day 9: Say, “I am sorry”
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”- 1 Peter 5:5 I messed up. Again. I overreacted toward my 17--year-old son the other day. I raised my voice. I made something a bigger deal than it was. After I did this, I felt so badly. I am a terrible mother,...
Day 6: Find reasons to Celebrate with your Children
It’s the last day of school, time to celebrate. I took my 17--year-old twin sons out to Starbucks to celebrate this morning. At first one of my twins said, “No, it’s okay, we don’t have to go.” But I countered, “Oh, Wes, I’d really like to take you and Micki out to...
Day 5: Allow yourself to relax
It's the NBA Finals, and I have been glued to the TV watching Lebron James of the Cleveland Caveliers and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. A couple of days ago during the opening game I had originally planned on penning a bunch of over-due thank you cards...
Planning for the Summer with kids
It’s almost summer. Some moms I am reading, like my friend Kelly, are so looking forward to unstructured time with their kids. Times when they will not have to get up early and make lunches or stay up late to help with the homework or deal with after school plans...
Day 4: Let them stretch their borders
The other day, my 12 year old said to me, “Mom, can you take Karver and me to the river? We want to float our rafts to the island at Cedaroak boat ramp.” I had been gone that day for a while and I was tired and needed to rest, but I yearn for time with my son and I...
Day 3: Give them experiences, not material goods
We have begun thinking about where we can go as a family this summer. We love road trips, with fishing and boating on cool lakes and camping in rugged campgrounds and savoring orange and red sunsets then roasting marshmallows at toasty campfires. The summer can get...
Kids want danger
My twins planned this overnight camping trip with seven friends of theirs. They call themselves the “Bros.” I love how they did this all on their own. Only trouble is they are all 17-years-old and and you have to be 18 to reserve a camping spot. So, the “Bros”...
A thought a day on Parenting, for 31 days
I have been a journalist for 20 years and have never been a “regular” blogger, but I have recently wanted to step up that game. I have written Mom columns for newspapers since the late 1990's before "Mom blogger" was even a term. I do find that my pen often goes to...
I am not Mrs. Christopher Seigneur
It’s graduation and wedding season which means that we -- and I am guessing you too -- are receiving graduation announcements and wedding invitations. And other invitations to fun celebratory end of the school year beginning of summer events. In our house, most of...
On my son turning 12 and me spreading the Nutella correctly
My youngest son Augustin Heinz Martin turned 12 a couple of days ago. Can we just slow life down for a while. It’s moving too fast. But, Gus was ready. His birthdays are a big deal for him and they are a big deal to me as well. It’s his last year as a “tween.” Sixth...
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