If you are trying to truly communicate effectively, you need to really think about your audience. What are their thoughts? Their desires? Their goals? Their jargon? Their experiences? What do you think they want to get out of the interaction with you? While you can not predict or assume, you’ll need to put forth some…
Take the Guesswork out of Receiving Feedback- Four Simple Steps Listen. Resist the urge to jump in to add commentary. REALLY listen to the feedback. Omit Emotion. Pretend you are a third party who does not know either side of this conversation. Listen for content to fully understand the feedback. Seek Truth. From what was shared,…
Hours after I had to tell my husband that our house burned while I was out with the kids and he was at work, I asked him if we were ever going to laugh again. I sincerely felt that we would feel so sad for so long that we would not be able to have…
Although this video was created by Similac to blow up stereotypes of parents and their views of breastfeeding, this video reminds us all of something really important: We are in this Motherhood thing together! I am reminded that stopping any remaining strands of “mommy wars” or judgments of other Moms starts with me…and you. A…
I was encouraged by a friend’s recent Facebook post who was grocery shopping and took a risk when she saw a fellow Momma trying to deal with her own child’s tantrum. I have written about my desire for Moms to have a secret gesture, to show each other support in a situation such as this,…
I am not sure if it is the plummeting winter temperatures that have prevented the kids from getting enough time outside, the increased stress levels that my husband and I have experienced these past couple weeks or the anticipation of the holiday season… but it is CHAOS in our house lately! (Something I hate to…
The kids were WIRED right around bedtime and my energy was LOW. I had withstood the previous three hours of children taking their turn losing it! The crying, whining, and bickering I endured that afternoon, must have been worse than Chinese water torture, I was confident. So after the kids and I returned from soccer…
Always searching for a way to give women a spiritual boost, I partnered with Mayslake Ministries to launch their Moms Ministry just this past summer. Since early September, they have released one video, less than 10 minutes, every Monday, geared towards Christian women who can benefit from a little spiritual lift! I talk about topics…
I was dropping off my youngest at his preschool. I backed out of the parking lot, and drove through the neighboring strip mall’s lot, as a way to pull onto the road. I was sitting there watching the cars, one lined up right after the other, speeding by…. quickly! I did not want to risk it, I…
I bumped into an old acquaintance whose children were grown, last week, who saw me with only one of my three children and asked “Your kids are back to school already….isn’t it so sad?” “NO!” I said a little too enthusiastically. She frowned. I went on, surprisingly feeling a tad guilty that I was NOT…