• Purposeful Parenthood

    Parenting Rituals: Which Ones Have Stuck?

    You all know I’m a planner. On top of that, I’m also optimistic and overly-ambitious! That’s why I wanted to check in about our parenting rituals to see which ones have stood the test of time. We are now 8 years in with our first child and nearly 6 years in with our second.

    Parenting Rituals: End of Year Books

    Parenting Ritual: End of Year Book

    When the boys first went to daycare/school, I bought them copies of Oh, the Places You’ll Go and started asking their teachers to write goodbye messages when the boys were graduating from their classes. My aunt bought the book for me when I graduated from high school, and it has … Read More

  • Purposeful Parenthood

    Family Goals: An Update on How We Are Doing

    Our Family Goals involve lots of water

    This is our fourth year of doing Family Goals, and I really like it! I find that it’s so easy to fall into a rut on weekends. With Family Goals in place, we are more motivated to stretch beyond “business as usual.”

    Two weekends ago, for example, we made progress toward two goals. First, we hosted our fifth gathering of friends/neighbors this year at our monthly Saturday Supper. Since it’s a potluck, there’s really no excuse not to do it. I barely even pick up our house in preparation for it. It’s really relaxing and fun to just hang out with people in the backyard.

    On Sunday, we … Read More

  • Purposeful Parenthood

    Purposeful Parenthood: What I’m Working on Right Now

    Purposeful Parenthood: What I'm working on right now

    Matt just returned from a weeklong trip to the Pacific Northwest (in exchange for the month I got to spend in Melbourne at a Montessori training). I sure do struggle to be a successful parent when I’m on my own! On top of the solo parenting difficulty, it was a particularly busy week at work. My patience for my children was virtually zero. The whole situation crescendoed into curling up in a ball—crying—on my bed on Saturday night, scrolling through Facebook. I felt like such a failure as a parent. Then I came across an ad that gave me direction for my most recent quest toward purposeful parenthood.

    The Facebook

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