It's hard to admit, but I remember a time when I wondered if I wanted to be a mother. I thought I lacked the natural maternal desire. It just didn't grab hold of me with the urgency and excitement I thought I should feel. It didn't help that I grew up in the women's liberation era when motherhood was characterized as the most unsatisfying job on the planet. Women spoke of motherhood as drudgery, and the common belief was that there was more to … [Read more...]
Today my daughter, Sara, graduates from college. This milestone brings to mind so many memories... When I took her to orientation day at preschool to meet her teacher and classmates, she walked away from me to interact with the other children. She kept looking back at me, surely needing reassurance that I was still there. Then she walked up to me and said, "Mom, it's time for you to go home now!" I pointed out that parents had to stay. "Why? I'm fine. Just go home and pick me up … [Read more...]
I'm starting to feel like someone is spying on me, noticing how hard I can be on myself for falling short in one area or another because targeted messages on the dangers of perfectionism seem to be coming at me from every angle. It's like when I send emails, search a particular topic on the internet or buy something online, and then suddenly I get Google and Facebook ads related to those exact topics. I hate being watched and monitored so closely. In Church, we talked about perfection … [Read more...]
Imagine spending eight to 10 hours of this beautiful spring weekend parked on the couch listening to about 30 religious speeches. That’s how millions of Mormons will be spending this April weekend – glued to the television, listening to the radio or taking advantage of satellite and Internet broadcasts from Salt Lake City where more than 100,000 people will be watching it … [Read more...]
Doug and I were asked to teach a parenting class at church, so in preparation, I pulled out some information I'd kept from when I moderated a panel on parenting a few years ago. I found a list of parenting tips I'd compiled from conversations with women whom I'd considered as excellent and experienced mothers. I'm sharing some of my favorites: Kids respond better to rewards than punishments. (This seemed to be the conclusion from parents that commented on my blog on how to encourage kids … [Read more...]
