Do you partner with other parents?

Both of our teenage boys have a girl interest.  Mark and I know one set of parents but we don’t know the other girl’s folks. This relationship has been going on for several months, but they have only spent time together at our house.  Personally, I’m...

Cinderella Lives—And free e-book giveaway!

Today’s post is from Hearts at Home speaker, Connie Neal. Connie is the author of over 30 books including one of my personal favorites, Holding On To Heaven While Your Marriage Goes Through Hell.  Today she’s offering a free e-book re-release of one of her...

To Be a Child

Today’s guest post is from Tina Hollenbeck, Associate Writer for Celebrate Kids, Inc. Tina is a wife to Jeff and mother to Rachel, Abigail and her oldest, Anna Vivain, who is already in heaven. She describes herself as a teacher, writer, survivor, and a voice....

Chore Timecard

Pay for chores? Not pay for chores? Ah the debate. Over 27 years of parenting, we’ve been all over the map on this issue.  We’ve done allowance, we’ve done no allowance. We have tied allowance to chores. We’ve separated allowance from chores....

A Fresh Start

I LOVE when the first day of the month is on the first day of the week.  It screams “fresh start” to me. I guess you could say a fresh start is a “reboot” of sorts.  Just like a computer needs a reboot every once in a while, our body, mind, and...

Do kids need personal/mental health days?

Dear Jill, A friend with college/post college aged kids recently shared that she gave her kids 1-2 personal/mental health days off of school a semester/year. One of her theories was that it allowed them to be honest with their parents and not feign illness/symptoms in...

Giveaway Winners from the past three weeks!

Today I’m packing my bags in Texas, saying goodbye to my newest granddaughter, my son-in-love, and my daughter and heading back to Illinois.  It’s bittersweet. I’ve loved being here, but I need to head home. Being gone for two weeks has been the...

31 Days of Hope for Adoptive Moms

Today I want to introduce you to Shelly. Shelly is a dedicated wife and mother of five blessings from around the globe.  She is known for being an encourager, prayer warrior and advocate for the Fatherless. While serving with the ABBA Fund, Shelly strives not only to...