Balance

Balance.

Any healthcare professional will tell you that good health is largely dependent on balance. Work and play. Cardiovascular exercise and good stretches. Fruits and vegetables with the occasional cupcake.

Balance is a big deal for the health of your family dynamic, too. If all of the attention is on one person (or one CHILD), the health of the family suffers. If one child is controlling the whole family--whether it's through his/her behavior or his/her extracurricular activities--then the peace of the family is upset. And there's no balance in that.

If your family is child-centered, then your child will grow up to be self-centered.

God's design is for the relationship between husbands and wives to be second only to our relationships with Him. In other words, Dad and Mom need to put Him first, each other second, and the children (with attention distributed equally to all) come next.

#areyouhappilyparenting #itsnotaboutyou #ifyourenothavingfunyouredoingitwrong

--Stacey

A Word About Fear

Another hurricane season is here, and while this one will probably bring nothing more than wind and rain to our neck of the woods, talk of threatening weather can be a little unsettling for all of us.

Whether it's a big storm or a weird shadow in the middle of the night, scary moments are going to happen for our children. When they do, you can bet they'll be watching to see how WE react to them. Adults who are calm and fully in charge in the home allow their children to be children: less anxiety and more self-confidence.

Along with exhibiting an "I've-got-this" attitude, you can also fill your child's heart and mind with some solid truth about fear. He has not given us a spirit of fear . . . so if HE didn't give it to us, then who did? Hmmmm.

This is a good verse to start!

--Stacey

"PILLAR OF SALT!"

Have you heard this story? It's the one about how the LESS attention you pay to your children, the MORE attention they will pay to you.

Does that sound odd?

Link to the video is below. Try it and let us know how it goes!

Pillar of Salt!

--Stacey

#areyouhappilyparenting  #ifyouarenthavingfunyouredoingitwrong


 

It's not supposed to be this hard . . . .

www.happilyparenting.com

Motherhood is not supposed to be this hard.

In fact, just a couple of generations back, most women considered it fun. They also considered raising children to be one of several interesting things that they did.

We often find that the same women who focus solely on the role of mother are also the most drained among us. And they're also the same women who share photos of their children and proclaim, “This is my whole world!”

Don’t form a club of women based on the burden of motherhood. Drop the burden!

What’s making you tired? Women generally report noise and mess as their top two. I would add your schedule (and your children’s schedules) to that list. See if any of these fit your lifestyle:

Are you doing too much around the house?
Are you doing chores that your able-bodied children are capable of doing?
Are you allowing each child to participate in more than one extracurricular activity?
Is the family eating dinner around the table less than three times a week (or never)?
If your child gets an invitation to a weekend birthday party, does it automatically go on the calendar?
Do you have trouble remembering the last time you enjoyed unplanned, unscheduled time at home?

We seem to be concerned that if we’re not involved in every aspect of our children’s lives, we’ll be seen as bad mothers. But they are separate people. They will eventually leave the nest, and as weepy as that makes us all (and it’s okay to mourn that thought), it’s right and healthy and of the Lord to let them create their own lives. Letting them go is the selfless thing to do. Think of them, not yourself. Imagine them in thriving, healthy families of their own.

What child feels free to leave his mother when she’s proclaiming to everyone, “He’s my HEART! He’s my WORLD!” Okay . . . do you want to still be coordinating his dental appointments when he’s 32? (The right answer is no.)

Let’s take it down a few notches. Love them, but don’t be in love with them. Save that kind of passion for your husband. If you’re not married, then reserve that kind of passion for your own interests.

Sweet-Smellin' Little Sinners

"A youngster’s heart is filled with rebellion, but punishment will drive it out of him." (Proverbs 22:15, TLB)

You know that word "rebellion" (or "folly," as some translations call it)? It's sin. Straight-up sin, straight out of the womb.

But their heads smell so, so good . . . .

Yes, we cherish them, adore them, and would give our lives for them. But we should never lose the perspective that we're sinners raising sinners. We'll each find the right mix of tough love and loving grace (not too much of either!), and we'll do just fine.

(We'll all need a giant sense of HUMOR, too.)

#ifyourenothavingfunyouredoingitwrong #areyouhappilyparenting

This School Year

I wholeheartedly believe that parents genuinely want to slow down.

Mothers are tired. Husbands want their wives back. And kids really just want to be kids (minus the over-scheduled agendas and lists aplenty). It can be done, but only if we speak up, stop comparing ourselves to each other, and put what is best for our children first--even if we are the only family on the block to do so.

My prayers for this school year are that your child will have:

an overabundance of opportunity to falter . . . so they can pick themselves up!
the hidden blessing of not winning . . . so they can know determination.
the indescribable gift of time . . . so they can explore.
real-life consequences . . . so they will always know that their actions have real meaning.

This school year, step back for their sake AND yours!

--Stacey

Back to School: How Big Are the Bows at YOUR House?

Back-to-school season, y'all . . . how big are the bows at your house?

Check out this video!

Giant Bows!

--Stacey

#areyouhappilyparenting  #ifyouarenthavingfunyouredoingitwrong