THE AWKWARD MOM

because uncomfortable conversations are the ones worth having

Category: practical (page 2 of 13)

Christian Mindfulness: How It’s Changing Me

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Christian mindfulness

My father is the broad-shouldered, strong, internal teddy bear type, with fingers like sausages. In my childhood, he was a Midwestern farmer.  In his spare time, he donates his mad skills to car repairs of missionaries, single moms, people like that. He’s that kind of guy.

And it’s common for him to come back into the house with blood zigzagging down his leg or seeping through his shirt. read more

End Racial Discrimination. Start at Home, with These Ideas

Reading Time: 3 minutes

end racial discriminationI know I wasn’t the only mom whose gut sunk like a stone when I heard of the death (“passing” seems a misnomer) of George Floyd. Just weeks after our family discussion about Ahmaud Arbery, we sat down in lieu of online church to talk again about racial discrimination.

Truth: Sometimes I wish I didn’t tell you I’d help with “uncomfortable conversations…worth having.”

But here’s another truth: Those of you readers of color probably didn’t have an option for this uncomfortable conversation with your kids. read more

Spiritual Life Skills for Kids: Courage (with Book List & Printables!)

Reading Time: 7 minutes

My daughter’s headed to winter camp soon, which she adores. This morning, over an increasingly plain-looking Greek yogurt parfait, she gushed about camp’s breakfast buffet. She loves the free time, the reconnecting with old friends.

But in light of her anxiety issues, and apparently a night last year when she laid awake till 2, she’s already nervous about getting to sleep.

(All those suggestions in the Help! My Kid Can’t Sleep post? Those are hard-won, peeps.) read more

Spiritual Life Skills for Kids: Gratitude (PRINTABLE THANK YOU NOTES!)

Reading Time: 3 minutes

1. The running list.

At dinner each night of November, see if your family can collectively think of 10 more things you’re thankful for. Keep a running list.

2. Turkey day decor.

A vase filled with your list written on slips of paper, or written scrawled on kraft paper doubling as a Thanksgiving tablecloth—complete with Sharpies or crayons prompting guests to add their own.

I am thankful for... craft paper table cover

3. The classic: Thank you notes.

Set a small, doable goal for yourself to send out a certain number of thank-you notes to people who might be a little clueless as to just how much you appreciate them. You might also consider enclosing a small gift card (think Starbucks, Amazon, iTunes) to add an exclamation point to your gratitude.

thank you notePrint polka-dot thank you notes here.

airmail thank you notes read more

Spiritual Life Skills for Kids: Celebration! (FREE PRINTABLE)

Reading Time: 7 minutes

celebrate celebration baptism

celebrate celebration baptism

This past Sunday was a beautiful moment for our little family: My husband baptized my two youngest children. read more

Do I let my kid veg out all summer?

Reading Time: 6 minutes

summerBack in high school, I took a crazy-cool trip with an organization, performing evangelistic street theater as we camped through Europe. It was unforgettable.

But I’m sure it was no easy feat. Our team consisted of 90 teenagers (not a typo). Tents were lined up with military precision, and meals were planned down to the number of boxes of macaroni and the packets of oatmeal.

In a similar spirit, free time wasn’t called free time, but “O Time”: Organized time. As in, be intentional. Don’t fritter it away. read more

Bouncing Back: Helping Your Child Open the Gift of Failure

Reading Time: 6 minutes

My thirteen-year-old and I sat across a sticky table from each other at the local donut shop. If I remember right, he had this maple-frosted thing that was the size of a small planet, totally at my permission (unusual for my Sugar Nazi tendencies). His tears had dried by now, leaving a whisper of salt on his cheeks.

“I just feel like I have more setbacks than wins,” he shrugged, so clearly in pain. read more

18 Dashboard-Light Questions: Am I Overcommitted?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

dashboard overcommitted

After the all-too-recent my-kid-might-have-lymphoma scare? There are some things that have been going right.

For one, after a year of doing my freelance writing and marketing for my only employment, I filed for my own business. I am now the owner of Fresh Ink, LLC. So that’s pretty cool. read more

Safe Cooking with Kids: Printable Infographic!

Reading Time: 3 minutes

cooking with kidsA couple of weeks ago, my son and I attempted homemade ravioli. I say attempted not because they didn’t taste good. (They tasted great!) I say this because in the midst of chaos–some foreseen, some not-so-much–we didn’t really seal the little ravioli pillows correctly. So ricotta leaked out into the water. Never fear: Every single one of the little guys was still eaten up, and since perfect ravioli wasn’t the goal, I’d consider it a smashing (smashed?) success.

I’ve been pulling kids up on the counter next to me (and sometimes sitting them in the bowl of the sink) for a little over a decade now. Initially, it was a strategy of containment. If I am cooking, I know where you and your fast little feet are, and what those little hands are dumping. But cooking has been a way that my kids and I create rich quality time together.

Near the end of the day, we are creating something nourishing together, learning a life skill, chatting about whatever, laughing, and sealing the memories with taste and sound and sight and  smell and touch. Somehow the mundane, to me, seems to take on a little magic. read more

3 Dying Artforms that Actually Make You Happier. Pick One

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Sending cards.

Around his birthday last year, I mentioned to my husband the number of people who’d wished him a warm HBD on Facebook. My daughter, listening, asked if he’d received a lot of cards. “I used to get a lot. But people don’t do that much anymore,” he shrugged.

We’ve all got more than enough to do–and plenty of “shoulds”, right? I’m truly not wanting to add more. But I’ve found writing notes actually makes me…happier. read more

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