This is your official welcome to fall! Time to enjoy Pumpkin Spice Lattes, cinnamon candles, and sweatshirts and sweaters. We are celebrating the last of summer’s offerings at the beach with my in-laws this week. Enjoy this week’s offerings of fall inspiration!
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We’ve been dealing with a lot of sass from our middle baby. She’s 3 1/2, going on 24. The advice in this article from Joanna Goddard at Cup of Joe was so easy, I felt ashamed for not trying it sooner.
“Honestly, it’s REMARKABLE what a difference it has made, even on the very first day. He’s so much more relaxed and less wild — maybe because he isn’t trying to compete for attention; he knows he has it.”
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I’ve made each of these recipes from North Carolina Charm, and I especially LOVE the Sausage & Cheese Tortellini Soup.
Enjoy!
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I’m thankful that I have surrounded myself with a tribe who encourages me to stop the comparison of my kids to others. It’s so hard not to encourage this culture, but we moms need to stick together and stop the comparisons and start the encouragement! From Brittany Dixon at A Healthy Slice of Life:
“Find solace in knowing that you aren’t alone. Every mom I know, myself included, has put herself through this unnecessary ringer of comparison. It comes from a good place, a place of love and wanting the very best for our children, but in reality, it’s damaging. I have found the best thing I can do for my children and myself is to support and celebrate them right where they are. Encouraging is good, but pushing a child past the point they are developmentally ready for will create frustration, self-doubt, and a sense of failure for all involved.”
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This was a gentle reminder for me, as I head into a week right after vacation (which we all know is a week of detox!). There’s only one way to get through. Becky Hastings at A Better Mom writes:
“Jesus didn’t clean up the glitter, but He did come and fill me up. He brought a resolve that I could get through this. I could clean up the mess around me and it wouldn’t break me. I could figure out something to feed my family and I wouldn’t need to take 3 kids out again. I could handle hard things because He handled them with me.
“Maybe you’re not facing glitter and burnt dinner. Maybe you’re in the middle of something at work where everything seems to be going wrong. Maybe you are lonely and tired of walking through the hard things without a hand to hold. Maybe you are uncertain of what to do next in your life and you feel like you’re spinning at a crossroads.
“No matter where you are, the answer is Jesus.”
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“When I first began to admit to myself that my past was haunting me, it was so scary. It took years before I could finally say out it loud, before I could finally give voice to my deepest hurts and pain. But what we keep hidden won’t go away. It will wreak havoc on us in a million ways, trying to find its way to the surface. Telling our hardest stories is like ripping off the bandaid and letting the wounds drain. Freedom will come when we finally have the courage to step into the vulnerable place of admitting we’re not okay; that we’ve been hurt, that we’re struggling, that we need help.”
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Enjoy your weekend!
#pjparenting
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