October’s theme for SLM is “seasons.” Autumn woos us with its fiery colors, apple cider, and football (c’mon — who doesn’t want to wear tweed and crunch leaves?).  It’ll be fun to read what’s in store this month for seasons at Bites, Homeschool, Kids, and Organic.  But specifically here on Simple Mom, we’re taking the angle of seasons a bit wider, and discussing something most of us here live through daily — seasons in parenting.

Parenting is the hardest job there is. Period. But what’s weird is that it’s hard — and blissfully rewarding — in different ways, depending on which stage of life your kids are in.

I’ve heard it said that while the early years of parenting are the most physically draining, the teenage years are the most emotionally taxing (help me now). And while those of us with littles enjoy daily block building and slobbery kisses, parents with older kids revel in watching their offspring mature into independent responsible adults.

We parents are in this together, even though we’re in different stages of this gig. It would make sense for us to share the daily wisdom we’re learning in the trenches, both to encourage those in the stage just before us, and to seek counsel from those who’ve already “been there.”

[Read more...]

School is starting soon for many of our kids. The heat still sizzles, but days are now spent buying school supplies, registering, turning in forms, and getting medical checkups.  Don’t know about you, but the lazy days of summer have definitely flown by for me this year.

But it is still summer for those of us in the northern hemisphere, and hopefully, you’ve got a few weeks left before the fall season begins. So… What’s on your agenda?

[Read more...]

I‘ll readily admit it: We’ve had a tough year. A semi-complicated pregnancy, health issues for our middle son, and a sudden, unplanned international move has made the past seven months — well, a doozy.

My emotions have been all over the place, but even in the midst of the highs and the lows, the near-constant feeling I’ve had for awhile is stress.

Which is why it hit me like an anvil to the head when I read this a week ago:

“Stress is a choice. Do you buy that? Some people have a hard time with the idea. …Yes, bad things happen: The economy sours, our business struggles, the stock market tumbles, jobs are lost, people around us don’t follow through, deadlines are missed, projects fail, good people leave. Life is full of these. But still, stress is a choice because whatever the ‘trigger event,’ we always choose our own response. We choose to react angrily. We choose to stuff our emotions and keep quiet. We choose to worry. …Stress is a choice.”

-John G. Miller, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question

So in essence, Miller is saying that I’m choosing to be stressed. And he’s right.
[Read more...]