I’m at a Loss… But I Have Hope :: A Response to Quarantine and COVID-19
I had a baby on January 27. It was my fifth baby in seven years. It jarred my world so quickly, presenting my family with …
Rachel Rich
7 Ways to Support the Pregnant Mom With Lots of Kids
We are out there among you. We are just like you, trying the best we can to be the best we can for our kids. …
A Comparison of My First and Fifth Pregnancies
We have spent the last eight years building our family. It’s been a lot of pregnancies, nursing, sleepless nights, and joyful chaos. This pregnancy is likely to be our last, and as I reflect during the last five weeks of it I can’t help but see some big differences between the first and last!
No Elf Here — We Have Snow Globes Instead
My oldest was just 3 months old his first Christmas. I thought it might be a great time to practice elfing, so my husband and I purchased an Elf on the Shelf, gave him a name, and started the very short-lived tradition. It didn’t take long for us to realize this was not going to work out.
Staying Calm and Present This Holiday Season
If the holiday season doesn’t go the way you envision, there’s always next year. Let’s not forget that the season is about the joy and the meaning of our holidays, not the junk, or the events, or all the things. You do the holidays your way, I’ll do them mine, and everyone else can go about it their way. Let’s go into this holiday season happy and excited with sound mind and presence so we can enjoy our children, our faiths, and our families — and a little of all the extras.
Bully Proof Your Child with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
From learning and practicing jiu-jitsu, a child becomes stronger, faster, and smarter. When faced with a bully, a child with a jiu-jitsu background is not likely to back down. When bullies sense this unyielding confidence, it is more likely they will back down before engaging. A child who has self-confidence in his ability to defend himself will exude that. This can prevent many bullying encounters. At the same time, jiu-jitsu instills humility.
Raising Boys to Be Good Men :: Addressing the Judgment of Today’s Boys
Our young boys should be allowed to explore their world, question it, try it on, take it off, and dabble in it to find out how they fit into it. All young boys are able to learn, grow, and become good. It is when we start to let fear drive our parenting that we lose. If our son’s non-threatening behaviors at 6 strike fear or question in another, it is on them, not us. I know I am raising him to be the good in this world and the man he is meant to be. I am tired of trying to show the world my perfect child in perfect form. So I show the world my son today. As far as I’m concerned, he is perfect just as he is right now.
Tips and Tricks for Managing the Large (or Busy) Family
As soon as I became pregnant with number four, we gave in to the call of the minivan, started looking for a bigger house, and began researching large families. I knew I was going to have to uncover some secrets and learn the ropes of managing our new, larger family. While I haven’t quite found or mastered all the tricks, here are a few I’ve come to rely on.
Why I Left the Career I Loved :: Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom
I thought I could be great at mommying while being great at teaching. I planned birthday parties, attended school events, packed five lunches every night, and scheduled play dates and outings. By social media standards, I was killing it. But I wasn’t. I was on autopilot, and there were glitches I had no time to catch or fix.