Blog Posts
2020 Holiday Gift Guide for Kids Ages 7 - 12
2020 may feel different in every possible way, but we can still do our best to embrace the spirit of the holidays! Below are a few of my favorite gift options for kids ages 7-12 this season. Let's spread joy and smiles however we can this year.
Trust Your Mom Gut When It Comes to Your Child's Education
Education is a hot topic these days as we face a new school year during a global pandemic. As moms, we have carried our families through all of the regular parental responsibilities in addition to the added emotional labor that has come with the difficult decisions regarding our family’s health and safety on a daily basis. We have navigated questions of how our families can safely spend their time, what to do about childcare, how to address health crises, and more during this time of COVID-19. Now, we are facing one of the most challenging decisions of all as we consider options for the model of schooling that best fits the needs of both our children and our overall family structure.
How to Help Your Anxious Child with School Reopening
Fortunately, as parents, we have the opportunity to both model healthy ways of responding to the anxiety and uncertainties related to school reopening, as well as the chance to help our children through the emotions of this process as we do the same for ourselves. Here are five phrases you can say to your anxious child about schools reopening:
Russell Brunson's 30 Day Traffic Secrets Challenge
Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of taking part in a 30 day challenge courtesy of Russell Brunson's newest book, Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers. This challenge is helping me learn important strategies that are helping me increase my blog traffic and connect with readers more.
5 Ways to Help Kids with Coronavirus Related Anxiety
It can be especially difficult to feel that we are doing our best with parenting during this challenging time, as we are all facing our own anxieties and mental health challenges. Fortunately, there are some strategies we can use to help our children deal with COVID-19 related anxieties.
8 Life Skills to Teach Your Kids During Quarantine
Here are eight life skills you can teach your kids while they are at home quarantining. Depending on the age and learning style of your children, we’ve suggested sample activities by level of challenge.
A Palm Sunday Reflection in the Time of COVID-19
We can choose to remember that it is okay to feel weak right now, and that in our weakness, we are not separated from our faith. As I heard on a wise podcast recently, “Pain can be a prayer even when you don’t have the words.”
A Coronavirus Guide for Parents and Kids
This is a guide for parents to learn the facts about coronavirus, how to stay safe, and the tips and resources you need for talking to your kids about COVID-19.
Valentine's Day is the New New Years Day for Women Over 40
I’m going to make this holiday about self-love because now I finally have the chance to kick this year off with a holiday that doesn’t make demands of my time and energy.The concept of Galentine’s Day didn’t come to be without good reason. This is the time of year when women can finally look up from their to do lists, brush that last random Christmas tree needle into the trash, and think about introducing some intentional self-love into our daily routines.
The Best Things to Do in Boston with Kids
Boston is an amazing place to visit with kids. It offers the perfect mix of history, culture, and just plain fun. Boston is a very walkable city, and public transportation is easy and visitor-friendly. With entertainment around every turn, this is a city that families can make the most of whether they are used to urban environments or not. These are our top 10 favorite things to do in Boston with kids.
Women Were the Real Winners of This Year's Super Bowl
"The Super Bowl 2020’s spotlight was on women without a doubt. Whether you appreciated or criticized the contributions of women on Sunday, it must be acknowledged that all of these women put themselves out there to break down barriers. They took the opportunity to be themselves rather than who the world wants them to be. They not only embraced where they have come from, they showed us where we need to be as a country. In a matter of minutes, the women of Super Bowl 2020 flayed our ignorance and flaws and hopes wide open for the world to see. Yes, this may have been uncomfortable for many, but the act of courageously holding a mirror up to society always is."
The Best Things to Do in Lincoln, NH
If you are looking for the ultimate outdoor playground in New England, look no further than Lincoln, New Hampshire. With a walkable downtown, a ski mountain right in town, fantastic restaurants, and hiking galore, Lincoln is a day trip or vacation destination that should be considered in every season. And there are so many things to do in Lincoln, NH!
Parenting in the Age of Burning Koalas
This is a personal essay that considers the anxieties of parenting in a new age of climate crisis and burning koalas.
One Year of Pandemic Outdoor Living
Today, I was reflecting on how routine lulls the brain to sleep. Getting outside of our comfort zones is important to rediscover wonder, joy, and adventure, and that completely represents our past year.
Since I have high risk health issues and the four of us were primarily home all year long, we would have truly lost our sanity if we hadn’t focused so much on adding outdoor adventure into our lives. Being outside was our freedom, stress-relief, and inspiration.
Watch the video and read more below!
Sometimes our outdoor life meant family soccer in the yard, or a bike ride on the trail by our house, or a walk through a neighborhood that wasn’t our own to switch things up. Other times, we drove to different states for true adventure. We hiked, walked, skied, snowboarded, biked, scavenger hunted, explored, and whatever else we could find outside to maintain our sanity.
Of course, this wasn’t easy. Though I recognize with true gratitude the mountain of privilege we sit on having the choices to stay home and be able to spend time outside the way we have, it hasn’t been all smiles as our pictures show.
Our daughter developed some extreme anxiety issues during the pandemic. Almost every time we left the house this past year, it was hard for her. Not hard like taking on a small challenge, but hard like extreme panic and tears and emotional meltdowns. It was so sad for us to watch, and it also was frustrating and patience challenging and just another storm of emotions for each of us on top of everything else that everyone has experienced this year.
Everyone’s had their own hidden struggles as is always the case, but this year held up a massive magnifying glass for every person to sit with their darkest feelings. It’s been a year that shook all of our foundations. We’ve all learned to recognize the everyday heroes of our world in a way that we may not have been able to see before. We’ve learned to embrace highs and lows and worry and fear. We’ve all found our own way - with everyone comfortable on different paths of their choosing - to make our way through hard things.
I love watching this video because it reminds me of all of the smiles and the little braveries and how choices to push outside of our comfort zone can help us take tiny steps through big things. We’ve all made our way through this pandemic and through the hard things in general that we all face that remain away from the public eye in different ways. This video doesn’t capture the stress, tough choices, sleepless nights, hearts missing loved ones, and much of what I agonized over and spent the majority of the pandemic doing, but it’s one piece of this year’s truth, and I know I’ll be holding on to this tiny piece in future hard times and for always.