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THE PARENTING DARE BLOGI love, love, love mothers.
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THE PARENTING DARE BLOGI love, love, love mothers.
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HAPPY SUMMER!! I love mothers! I also know that summer poses a bunch of new challenges for all of us.
One of the ways I have been supporting mothers is by giving specialized retreats in my home.
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In the last email I sent out I made mention that I will not be giving retreats from my home anymore. And I had a lot more to say about that but I didn’t make the time to go into the details of that decision.
After I sent the email, I received some very nice messages and emails and comments from women, saying things like, “Hey, I am disappointed you are stopping those retreats. I wanted to invite some friends to your next one,” etc. I wanted to clarify what’s really going on. Note: if you have never LISTENED to one of my blog posts, I highly recommend you try it today. Why? Well, I added a TON of details as I podcasted this particular post, which simply means that it is close to my heart. I gave backstories and side stories (which I did not write out, but that more or less flowed from my heart). If you like to know The Whole Picture, then give this a listen!
If you think about it, we give our children many gifts. Yes, physical gifts, but more importantly, we teach them Bigger Truths and Ways to Navigate Life. What is the very best gift that you've given to your children?
Such a great question to ponder. While you are at it, think about how you were parented; what's the best gift that your parents gave to you? Now, for those of you that don't me, I am an older mom. I have 8 kids and I certainly don't have all of the answers but I do love thinking about questions like those.
I’m very excited for this post today. Why? Well, I stumbled upon something that shifted something important with me. And I wanna share it with you.
Okay, in the last several posts, I have been talking about the concept of Parenting Below the Line, which means that we meet our children where they are at and we love them there. We guide them. We build into them. We create a family culture where our children don’t have to hide from us. And when they hide from us, we still meet them in their sin and muck and misery and we love them. We give them the undeserved gift of grace.
Parenting is such a rollercoaster, isn’t it? There are highs and lows and everything in between. When I was a young mom, I thought it would ONLY be about teaching my children how to be polite, responsible and respectful. I didn’t understand that part of my parental duties were to teach and equip them how to handle the “underworld” of our life.
Today I’m going to tackle this topic: what to do when your child gets sucked into that underworld. (Our podcast player looks a little different this week...they changed some things.)
Lent is sort of like January 1st.
It’s that natural time where we can take stock of our entire lives: spiritual, emotional, social, familial, physical, intellectual and see what needs help. What needs more attention? What needs less attention? In my last three podcasts/blogs, I’ve discussed the concept of Parenting Below the Line; kids hide things from us that they don’t want us to see. Parenting them “below the line” is about acknowledging exactly where your children are and showing up for them.
I absolutely love parents, especially parents of middle schoolers. Why? Because when their child hits puberty, a whole new level of commitment is required from the parents! And I think it is gorgeous when parents answer that call with grace and courage. And this post is going to help parents do just that. SO. If you are the parent of a middle schooler, read on!
(For those of you that do not know me, my name is Lori Doerneman, I've been married to my fabulous husband Russ for over 30 years and we have 8 children. I have a teaching degree but I don't work in the school system; I have been working in the ministry of parent education for over ten years. About seven years ago my oldest son, Eric, joined me, which surprised me at first. But I am grateful. He brings a big dimension into our presentations. I come at it from the point of view of a mother. He showcases what it was like to be a kid in the midst of the big struggles.)
Oh.my.stars. My last blog post was a month ago. FOUR WEEKS AGO! What have I been doing in the past four weeks? Well, I was sick most of January and for a week in February. It wasn’t a constant thing, but an aggravatingly off again, on again thing. So weird.
I kept telling my husband, “I want ordinary time! I just want normal back!”
I love January because I love thinking deeply about life, about where we’re going and such. The first of the year is such a natural time to do that, don’t you think?
This year I thought I would start by writing a bit deeper about my own parenting journey and how it has changed throughout the years and what it really means to "Parent Below the Line." (It's a game-changer!)
I'm excited today because I want to delve into this interesting sphere of influence that you have with your kids, spouse, co-workers and such. What I'm going to talk about today is something you may not have even considered before. What am I referring to? The power of your gaze.
How you look at people has the ability to change their life and it can actually change your life, too. This makes me excited and is actually something I've been talking about during the last couple of months; I've been giving retreats for some AMAZING mothers and I discuss "the power of the mother's gaze" in the second session and the "assignment" I give those mothers is to "seek their child's face." I know many of you cannot go to those retreats so I wanted to discuss this topic today because it's really been life changing for me! |
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I'm Lori Doerneman Wife. Mom. Catholic. Idealist with 8 kids, keeping it real. Archives
May 2024
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