Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 077. I’m sad to announce that this is the last episode of the Busy Mom’s Survival Guide for the forseeable future. I’ve been thinking and praying about this decision for a while and with Jim’s help, I’ve decided that I need to stop podcasting for now.  It’s my hope that by…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 076. Last week we discussed the important role friends play in our lives. Today I’m going to continue my discussion on the importance of friendships with Carlin Flora, author of the book Friendfluence*. Last week we talked about how important friendships are for our children and teens.  Today Carlin and I…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 075. During today’s episode, I’m going to talk about the importance of friendships with Carlin Flora, author of the book Friendfluence*. I read an article a few weeks ago that surprised me.  It said that research has shown that if you don’t have enough friends, your risk of dying…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 074. How often have you found yourself embarrassed by your children’s behavior?  I know for me, with 8 children, there have been many times that I have wanted to hang my head in shame over something my children have done.  But I know that good parenting means that instead…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 073. I have always said that God gives us children not JUST so that we can raise them, but so that we can finish growing up ourselves.  Have you ever found yourself saying, “My children make me want to scream!?”  I admit, I’ve said that.  And while our children…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 072. During today’s episode, I’m going to finish the discussion about sibling rivalry with Dr. Todd Cartmell, author of the book, Keep the Siblings, Lose the Rivalry*. A lot of parents are tempted to think that siblings fighting is normal and that there is nothing they can do about it.…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 071. Sibling rivalry is something I think every parent with more than one child deals with. And it can be so frustrating because of how frequently it appears and how much time we spend dealing with it. But as frustrating as it can be, I know that for me…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 070. I’ve spent several months now talking about the importance of studying your children and getting to know their individual strengths and weaknesses as well as their learning styles and love languages.  During this podcast episode, I encourage you to study yourself as I talk about parenting styles. Parenting…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 069. I talk a lot on my blog and podcast about how valuable it is for busy moms to exercise and stay fit.   But it’s not important so that we can look good (that’s just a side benefit).  It’s important so that we can feel good and so that…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 068. During last weeks episode, I was joined by Kara Durbin, author of Parenting With Scripture*. We discussed how we use Bible verses as we train and raise our children, and shared verses that we use. This week I finish the discussion with Kara about parenting your children with…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 066. If you imagine that parenting styles form a spectrum, with reactive parenting on one end and proactive parenting on the other, you can think about where you usually reside. To intentionally parent means that you spend more time being proactive and learning how to move away from reactive parenting. During…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 065. I don’t know of any mom who wants to yell at her children.  Yet so many moms are struggling with high stress levels.  It often doesn’t take much to “push them over the edge” and they find themselves yelling at their children regularly.  So how do you stop…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 062. I love my children.  And I’m sure that you love yours.  But do you show your kids love in a way that they can understand?  Do they actually feel like you love them? During this podcast episode I discuss the concept of love languages from the book The…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 058. For Jim and I, having a strong family unit is a very important goal.  I have always wanted my children to be each other’s best friends, which is one of the reasons we had them so close together. I also know that Jim and I are not going…

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 055.My husband got his Master’s Degree in Teaching.  One of the things I remember him studying was “Multiple Intelligences” and “Learning Styles”.  I admit, I didn’t really pay much attention to it back then, but I picked up enough to learn that different children learn differently.  That seemed like…