Have you ever felt like you aren’t doing a good enough job as a mom? You feel you should be doing more with or for your kids, you worry you’re damaging them in some way, or you long for a break from them – but think you shouldn’t feel that way! Mom guilt can make you miserable! How can you stop feeling this way? What is mom guilt? Mom guilt is the feeling that you have done something wrong that will cause harm to your child. It usually arises from the feelings of not being able to…
What makes a child feel loved? In my opinion, it goes beyond taking care of their basic needs – food, shelter, safety, education, clothing – it’s when they know they are seen, heard, and understood. Feeling unloved can have long-lasting effects on your child, and if you’re like me, you don’t want to cause long-term damage to your kids. But, I get it, you’re a busy Mom (or Dad), and you want to meet the needs of your kids and make them feel loved and valued. How can you do this when your life is…
Is it wrong for Christians to have strong negative emotions? Because the Bible speaks against anger, hatred and other strong emotions, we often cover them with a veneer of cheerful Christianity while they churn beneath the surface like Mount Etna waiting to erupt. While I believe throwing tantrums is not a healthy way for a child to express emotion, I don’t believe we should teach them to shut down their emotions and not express them at all. Read about tantrums here) Shutting down strong emotions may seem like a quick solution, but it’s counterproductive. What’s wrong…
Let’s talk boundaries with kids. As the parent, you are responsible to help your child learn healthy boundaries with themselves and the people around them. “Children are not born with boundaries. They internalise boundaries from external relationships and discipline. In order for children to learn who they are and what they are responsible for, their parents have to have clear boundaries with them and relate to them in ways that help them learn their own boundaries.” Boundaries with Kids, 18 Cloud & Townsend The basics of boundaries is to have routines and schedule. A morning routine, a daytime routine…
Don’t we all want our babies to just sleep without us having to rock/bounce/shush/sing/breastfeed for an hour (sometimes hours!)? Well, that’s how I felt, anyway. I had one easy baby, one very colicky baby and another fussy baby. I never knew anything about sleep training back when my kids were born, but as I look back I realise I actually did sleep train. When our daughter was born we lived with Richard’s parents and did not have a room for the baby. In my ignorance I rocked her to sleep every…
Should you allow your kids to sleep in your bed with you? Recent studies indicate that a near epidemic proportion of children are co-sleeping with parents today. Around 45% of moms let their 8- to 12-year-olds sleep with them from time to time, and 13% permit it every night. One of the reasons parent’s allow co-sleeping is because children today have higher levels of anxiety than previous generations – higher divorce rates, frequent transitions, over-scheduling, more academic pressure, and constant media connection (no time to be “off-line”). So, because so many parents are allowing…
No matter how conscientious we are as parents, we all make blunders from time to time – like giving consequences for something our child didn’t do. (Yup, got that T-shirt.) We may feel awful about occasional slip-ups like this, but they are less serious than the mistakes we repeat consistently. 8 Parenting mistakes to stop doing Here are some parenting mistakes you may be making without realising it: 1. Repeating instructions and making threats Do your kids only obey once your voice raises a notch, your eyes narrow, and you use their full name? If so, you’re…
Let’s face it, motherhood is challenging and exhausting. It can feel overwhelming at times – like everything is spiralling out of control. You may feel like a failure because you yell at your kids, or don’t give them enough attention. God’s word has some encouragement for you, mama! He sees you. He understands your challenges and struggles. He has a special place in His heart for you. Let’s take a look at some verses designed especially to give you – tired, weary mom – hope and courage. 22 Encouraging Bible verses #1 Matthew 11:28-30 “Come…
One of my biggest challenges as a SAHM was the frustration of not getting stuff done that I wanted to get done. I didn’t realise that being productive has a lot to do with planning. I was never taught to plan and didn’t even consider it necessary. I just lived. I allowed life to happen to me. The result was that my feelings or crises dictated my life, which led to a lot of stress and overwhelm, which led to irritation, which led to yelling at my kids, which led to guilt. Sounds like chaos. Yup. It…