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THE AWKWARD MOM
because uncomfortable conversations are the ones worth having
Category: practical (page 4 of 13)
Reading Time: 4 minutes
The horrific news from Florida has all of us reeling. It’s leaving far more questions than answers in its wake. And it’s possible your kids are contending with some of the same questions we as parents are: “Is my school safe?” (If it helps, Keys for Kids just posted this devotional story to read with your kids.)
A few thoughts as you consider what to say to them.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
The finish line is in sight: The kids are headed to bed. Did I mention your knuckles are grazing the ground?
Aren’t you feeling creative? Romantic? Well. If I was thinking about something other than settling in for some Netflix–yes, romance sounds nice. Creativity sounds, um, exhausting.
So let’s make it easy. Super-doable. (Hey, this as much for me as for you.) Let’s stoke the fires of romance with the little energy you’ve got left.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
- Text something sweet, sexy, thankful, or playful: Thanks for all you do to get us all out the door in the morning. You still take my breath away.
- Check your spouse’s calendar, and then kidnap her from work for a quick lunch or an afternoon romantic matinee.
- Bring his favorite coffee shop treat home.
- Leave a steamy voicemail.
- Load the dishwasher for her. (Trust me. It works.)
- Invite him to take a shower with you.
- Get a little “handsy” in the kitchen.
- Lay your head on his chest or tuck beneath his arm while you watch your Netflix fave.
- Compliment her in front of a friend.
- Pick up her favorite snack at the grocery store.
- Grab her hand while riding in the car.
- Encourage him about something he did well at work.
- Wrestle.
- Borrow the kids’ Nerf weapons.
- Encourage your kids to thank her for something she’s done for them.
- Write him a love note.
- Make her a homemade card.
- Give him a massage.
- Write her a sappy (or funny) poem.
- Read her a love poem. (Ideas here.)
- Rub her feet.
- Make him a compilation CD of songs that express your heart and relationship.
- Give her a scalp massage.
- Take a bath together.
- Buy her flowers.
- Kiss at every stoplight.
- Ask to hold her hand.
- Play with your kids together.
- Light candles.
- Wear perfume and pretty underthings.
- Speak her love language (free “cheat sheet” here).
- Clean up your bedroom.
- Take care of that one thing that’s been weighing on him.
- Make up a goofy song about her on the fly.
- Overlook something he did that was stupid.
- Call her to tell her something about your day.
- Advocate for her.
- Plan a date in.
- Remember one of your favorite lovemaking memories, and whisper it in his ear.
- Go on a walk.
- Paint her toenails.
- Thank him for something unexpected.
- Listen to her. Ask good questions. (Ideas here.)
- Initiate fun sex.
- Tell her about a memory you love from when you were dating.
- Pick up a bag of her favorite candy.
- Play a little jazz while you cook together. Grab her hand and dance for a moment.
- Develop a code for talking when the kids are in the room about possible lovemaking.
- Come to bed naked.
- Go stargazing.
- Pick up a small gift that will delight and surprise.
- Pray together.
Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering.
The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
My family, 2017
I gotta tell you guys: Blogging’s a humbling venture. Sometimes it’s like sending a piece of my heart into cyberspace, and just trusting God to do whatever he wants with it. Sometimes it’s less than I hope; sometimes it’s far more. My husband reminds me that instead of numbers, I can look at the hours of worship God is hopefully generating. He’s continued to do more than I imagined even through a tough year.
But really, this is the part where I get to finally thank you, readers. So many of you, I don’t know–and yet you continue to care about these things along with me. Thanks for caring about the relationships that matter most, and for sharing these posts with people you care about. Here were the posts that resonated most with you this year.
Reading Time: 6 minutes
One of my favorite aspects of my African lifestyle was a lean muscularity of simplicity. Forget keeping up with the Joneses. You are the Joneses, when your kids are going to play with kids whose families (who may or may not be literate or have lost a child) live in one room, which may or may not have electricity and running water.
So people expect my light fixtures to, say, look like I swiped them from my church in the eighties. They anticipate that when I serve lemonade, it will cascade from an ugly plastic pitcher.
Perspective is everything.
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Like this series? Get more of these here.
I’ve been putting this post off.
It’s pretty much because creating a sense of respect in my kids still makes me want to tear my hair out. Admittedly, my oldest is now 13, so we’re breaking new ground in this area.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
We were headed to church, exhaling clouds of steam in the still-cold car. Up in the front seat, I happily remarked to my husband about the expanding diversity in our small town–as judged authoritatively, of course, by my trips to Wal-Mart. After five and a half years in Africa, I can feel a little stifled amongst all the vanilla around me.
My daughter, from the backseat: “Why does ‘diversity’ make you happy?”
She didn’t, it turns out, know what diversity was. So we talked about it: That God expresses Himself through every culture. That differences make us more vibrant and loving and whole. That we want people of all types to be welcome here.
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Want to catch up on this series? Start here.
Would your kids believe me if I told them eating mac and cheese could praise God?
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Missed the previous posts and the ideas behind this series? Catch ’em here.
He was barely in the front door, cheeks flushed from the bike ride home. He smelled like the cold and that faintest puff of little-boy sweat. “Mom! Guess what! We’re getting a new kid and his name is Toby and the teacher wants me to show him around and tell him all about the school!” He drew a breath, those Chiclet-sized adult teeth still, charmingly, just a bit too big for his eight-year-old mouth.
Pull up a chair for practical ideas and discussions on the parenting, relationships, and spirituality we're all army-crawling through every day.
After five and a half years in Uganda, my family and I returned to the U.S., where I write and speak professionally, and we continue to work on behalf of the poor.
My first solo book, Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids' Hearts (Harvest House), released October 2021.
#instagoodness
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