Dear Joyce, I was hoping you could help me with something. Is it normal for me to REALLY dislike being a mom? I would say for the last month I have found joy difficult when it came to mothering. I do not have a job and rarely get quiet time. Usually I handle it a lot better, but lately I even have resentment towards my kids. I know this is…
Dear Joyce, Given Michelle’s keen intellect and analytical nature, did she ever question her faith, the existence of God, the creation story, etc.? I envision this is something I am going to have to work through with my child who is currently in 1st grade. It doesn’t help that her best friend at school is an atheist. Any advice? Help! Love, Stephanie Dear Stephanie, I love how seriously you take…
Family conflicts are unavoidable. We have many relationships to manage: husband-wife, mother-child, father-child, brother-sister, sister-sister, brother-brother. How do you handle disagreements? Sibling rivalry? What are you doing to equip your children to deal with conflict resolution? The fact that you have differences is not as important as how you handle your differences. There are five styles of handling conflict: “I win” – Relationship is not valued. Needs are met. It’s…
As we jump into 2011, let’s reflect a bit on 2010. Are you one who SURVIVED? Or did you THRIVE? Surviving is getting through the day and reacting to situations. It involves short term thinking. Thriving requires planning and evaluating. You respond to situations with a plan, and you have long term thinking. The reality is that there will be days that you just survive. Sometimes you have to survive…
