I never felt so alone or insignificant as I did when Ron went to prison.
Most of my family and friends had abandoned me. The future looked dark, bleak, and cruel. It seemed to be calling me into a life defined by social isolation, poverty, and hopelessness. I was overwhelmed! I was drowning in responsibilities—taking…
Teaching moments
When I read a blog or article that echoes my own beliefs, I feel so affirmed! This is a great article on how to keep your kids safe—by not keeping them too safe. I love it! I watch so many parents overcompensate for the absence of the other parent by doing all these…
It is so crazy how quickly children learn!
Every moment in their lives becomes an opportunity to learn something new. As we were traveling across Ohio to visit Daddy in prison, there were so many “teachable moments” we had together. We were not always conscious of how much our sons were learning from traveling to…
Prison visits were both wonderful and terrible moments in our lives.
Wonderful because we got to be together, hold each other (however briefly) and talk to each other while we looked into each other’s eyes. Terrible for so many other reasons – the location, the atmosphere, and the reminder of the reality that prison was…
“I want to stay here with Daddy!”
Every time I heard those words, pain would shoot through my heart. Not just the pain that comes from knowing your children are hurting and you cannot fix it, but also pain from the terrifying picture of my sons in prison. I knew they did not understand what…
For some time now, emotional intelligence has been a popular term floating around the internet..
in classrooms, and at the water cooler. But, is this just a passing fad or is there really more to it? According to The Gottman Institute (The Institute), “A particularly powerful study tested school-aged children on self-control and conducted follow-up…
For most of us, spending our money is way more fun than budgeting our money.
We view budgeting as something we have to do and spending as something we get to do. We equate sticking to a budget with responsibility, while we look at the act of spending money as frivolous. But, maybe it doesn’t…
This is a great article on staying motivated even when you cannot see immediate results.
“As humans, we are hardwired to seek and engage in activities that provide us instant gratification.”
As you move forward in pursuit of your dream, it’s important to recognize that you need to experience the gratification of accomplishment to bring…