The Parenting Dare Blog

The Truth about Your Beauty

1/31/2020

“Mom, what was your worst, most shameful moment in your eating journey?”

When I heard that question, I stopped what I was doing and got very still.

Eric, my adult son who does all the tech part of this blog and podcast, went on, “I love your post from Thursday, explaining what The Inside Out Journey is all about. Now tell a little more about your own journey. Give the real.”

Just so you all know, working with my 26-year old son is not always fun. He pushes me. It’s usually in the right direction, but still.

My worst moment with food? Well, first of all, I don’t think there was ever a bad moment WITH food. In fact, most of my food memories are fantastic. I am a foodie and I love food. Always have. Always will.

The Inside Out Journey

1/29/2020

Grab a cup of coffee. I wanna chat a bit.

I recently opened my new course, Inside Out.

Several people have asked me if the course about food and somehow finding the willpower to eat a certain way. Um, no. In fact, I wrote about that in my last post: Why I’ve Renounced Diet Plans. It’s not about the food.

Why I Renounced Diet Plans

1/25/2020

I made the decision. I was done with a relationship that I had been in for DECADES.

The feelings that ran through me? Relief. Excitement. Joy.

To cement my commitment, I set up an appointment with my pastor.

One Simple Way to Create Connection

1/22/2020

It is extremely easy to go throughout life without really connecting with another human being. I mean, yes, we can ask, “How are you?” and hear the quick, “Good, how are you?”

But it’s another thing altogether to CONNECT with others.

Okay, how does one truly connect with another? Well, there are a lot of ways, but one of the most powerful: through emotions.

How to "Create a Beautiful Family Culture" as a Mom of Littles

1/17/2020

I love mothers. I especially love mothers of young children. I love how you love. I know it’s not easy and I know it’s not always pretty, but you keep doing what needs to be done for your little people.

In the last two weeks, I have been writing about Creating a Beautiful Family Culture in a World that Seemingly Wants to Destroy Families. I have been writing from my current vantage point as a mother with three kids out of college, one in college, three in high school and one fifth grader.

Create Your Family Culture

1/15/2020

I love family living. I love the mess and the drama and the hormones. I love the way personalities and agendas and emotions swirl and flow within the walls of a home. Why do I love that sweet mess? Because it continually calls me higher. Having a Family is the best Self-Improvement Plan that was ever created and I mean that in all seriousness.

One of my big goals this year is to truly Create a More Beautiful Family Culture. We have a ways to go. We’ve sort of fallen to the lowest common denominator.

How to Use Habits to Design a Better Life

1/9/2020

Welcome! January is MY FAVORITE time of the year. I love all of the looking back and assessing. I love the renewal of commitments. I love the Fresh Start Feeling of it all. As a mom of 8 kids, I NEED January!

In the last two posts I shared with you how I’d like to Create a Beautiful Family Culture this year. But even as I have had great resolutions, in the past year, life sort of got in the way and I forgot about all of my Plans for Improvement. I knew I had to do something differently if I really wanted to make lasting changes. So I dove into The One Little Thing that can Create the Biggest Change in our Lives and that one little thing is HABITS.

The One Little Thing that Can Create Big Change in your Family

1/8/2020

Welcome to The Parenting Dare Blog! On Monday I encouraged you to take the time and think about your current family culture. I asked you to think about what you’d really like to achieve this year within your family unit.

If you did not have time to read that post, here’s a link: Creating a Beautiful Family Culture. Then answer this question: If you could use one word to describe the current state of your family culture, what word would that be? (The rest of this post is about how to create change in regards to your response to that question.)

Creating A Beautiful Family Culture

1/6/2020

Happy New Year! I absolutely love the first of the year. It’s a time for us moms to sit down and take a moment. What worked last year? Where did we drift? What areas can we improve?

I’m super excited for this year because I actually feel great. In my last post, “The Low Down on Low Thyroid” I explained why I have not posted for the past six months.