THE AWKWARD MOM

because uncomfortable conversations are the ones worth having

Tag: gratitude (page 1 of 3)

Thankfulness: 11 Spiritual Life Skills for Kids

Reading Time: 4 minutes
Time for a holiday rerun–with a few extras added in! In light of the release of Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write On Your Kids’ Hearts, here’s a list of ways to encourage your kids toward thankfulness this month. 

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.

Display a vase filled with your list written on slips of paper. Alternatively, scrawl gratitude items on kraft paper doubling as a Thanksgiving tablecloth—complete with markers 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.

Polka-dot thank you notes: Print them here.

thankfulness

Print this polka-dot thank you note here.

Airmail thank you notes: Print these here.

thankfulness read more

Doubt, Parenting-Sabotage, and Seeing God in My Kids

Reading Time: 5 minutes

doubt

As part of the premise of this blog, I commit to uncomfortable conversations worth having. And the onus of that falls on me—toward authenticity in the midst of my own doubt and weirdness.

So today, I’m opening the convo with something I regret. read more

New Year 2021: Ideas to Put the “New” Back In

Reading Time: 4 minutes

New Year 2021

While living in Uganda, my language acquisition developed to an equivalent of that drunken-sailor lurch of a new toddler. That is, my ability to speak resembled lurching, grinning, and occasionally falling on my rear.

And of course just because you can speak a language doesn’t mean you use it in the same ways. I’d occasionally get weird looks for wishing someone Merry Christmas (Seku Kulu enungi!) in December. Apparently Ugandans keep this phrase pretty much for Christmas day. read more

Me, Overfunctioning: 3 Bad Things It’s Teaching My Kids

Reading Time: 5 minutes

overfunctioning

So over here, school has started again. I may have subconsciously avoided my boys’ room this morning, which at last sight looked like someone flipped it upside down and shook it. My daughter’s room was pretty similar as she rushed out the door. Hers just smells better.

What I want to do? Overfunction just a little. read more

Resilient Kids: How COVID Can Help Us Build Them

Reading Time: 6 minutes

resilient kids

As we all prep for school-or-not, ’tis the season for Death by Appointment. The last few weeks have carted my kids to the dentist, the doctor, the counselor, the orthodonist, back to the dentist and doctor (four times, at least), and finally, the endodontist. I am now old enough to have a child who needs his wisdom teeth out.

As God continues to nudge me to not do for my kids what they can/should do for themselves, I had my 16-year-old fill out his own paperwork. But y’know, he’s the kind of kid that takes his own spin off, say, the boxes asking, “Are you pregnant?” read more

Parenthood is a Dirty Microwave: Clean Questions for 2020

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Sometimes my microwave feels like a microcosm of my life.

To clarify: Not like this cute, peaceful stock photo. 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

FREE Thanksgiving Printables/Crafts for Kids!

Reading Time: 2 minutes

This year, my family is opting for a paper-plate Thanksgiving: That is to say, we’re going for a little less prep, a little more togetherness. (I hope.) Because I’m eager to make all this about something more than a meal.

When I learned that the pilgrims built seven times more graves than huts, it started to dawn on me that this isn’t always about this surplus always spilling around us. We need this day, no matter how much we have or how harrowing of a year it’s been, to turn our faces upward.

So I’m eager to pass this on to kids, too–to create great memories around the actual acts of giving thanks! read more

What Makes You Happy? 15 Ideas for a More Blissful & Thankful Day (Right Now)

Reading Time: 4 minutes

A friend told me recently of a trip he and his wife to Hawaii took several years back. After dropping his wife at the terminal for the flight home, he was the only person on the rental car shuttle. He recalled the shuttle driver’s words: “I think I need to go on vacation.” My friend laughed when he told me this. Where do you go on vacation when you live in Hawaii?

Having friends who used to live in Kauai, I know that wherever you live, life is never all bliss. In fact, one side of my house looks over a little cabin serving as a VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner) year-round. And God seems to use it to tap me on the shoulder: Just a reminder. You live in a place where a lot of people go on vacation.  read more

31 More Things to Be Thankful for Today if You Live in the Developed World

Reading Time: 2 minutes

So many of us are experiencing new heights of irritation with and alienation from our own nations’ government. But consider this post an opportunity to shift our eyes in gratitude. When I’m struggling to feel content here, I think of my African friends’ perspectives on just what abundance we drink in every day.

Today’s and yesterday’s posts, rather than reinforcing the misguided, often arrogant notion that developing-world countries are horrible places to live, are simply invitations to be grateful with me about what we have…but generally did not create for ourselves. read more

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