My oldest is turning eight at the end of this year–an age of great significance in our religion. He can make the choice to get baptized once he’s eight. This has led me to a lot of pondering and experimenting on how to help him recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost and make the … Read more
When I was eighteen, I met a handsome man who insisted he wanted to marry me. I hadn’t planned on finding someone to marry so young. I took to a lot of prayer and soul-searching. In the end, I told him yes, and we were married when I was nineteen. Recently a friend asked me … Read more
Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. . . . and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 2 Kings 6:16-17 God could be speaking to us here. Whenever we falter in the face of temptation or trial, they … Read more
It has been a rough week. I had a lot of doubts at the beginning of this week, whether my experience matters or is helpful to anyone. My husband was quick to counteract those thoughts. As was Darla’s post on Instagram, plus a few other posts I saw, but can’t find now. But those thoughts … Read more
Have you ever had the experience of studying a topic in the scriptures and then having an experience that teaches you more about it (or makes you realize you need to learn more about it)? Which leads to further study. And then someone at church or in your family brings up a similar topic? Does … Read more
I taught my daughter how to paint nails. My husband taught our son how to draw a car. Parents are the first teachers for their children on this Earth. But it seems that in the age of experts and professionals, parents are losing their confidence, their ability to trust God and their own instincts about … Read more
Kids are reading at younger and younger ages. We have a little friend who played with literacy apps and taught herself to read before she turned four. When my oldest was four, I felt like I needed to teach him to read. It seemed that all of the other mothers I knew were teaching their … Read more
Looking at this necklace, I think of hard work and passion. As a kid, I loved soccer and when I saw this necklace in our school’s fundraising catalog (a cute necklace with a soccer ball!) I wanted it. I saved up fifteen dollars to buy it myself. It was special to me. It is special … Read more
So often I come up with things I feel like I need to teach my kids, whether it’s something I see that they don’t know how to do well, something society says they need to know, or something I just think they need to learn. It’s easy to have my whole mind focus on the … Read more
If you look up research done in preschool and kindergarten classrooms, you’ll discover that their abilities to read, write, count, or identify patterns is only indicative of how well they do on tests. But the future success of our young children is closely linked to their social-emotional skills. A recent study found that fourth-graders “who … Read more