(What does that really mean?) My family loves to tell stories. One of my favorites is when my sister was 13. My dad, sister and I were down at Memorial Park in Houston. We had hiked down to Buffalo Bayou. The bayou is brown and murky...
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In Daring Greatly, Brene Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, defines shame as "the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging." I define Mother Shame as the persistent...
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I was talking to Chelsea a 15-year-old girl a few days ago. She's gorgeous and tall, yet she looked small sitting on my office couch. I asked her what was going on. She looked out the window and said, "Everyone hates me at school. I am...
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Sometimes the answer is no. It has to be, if we are going to protect our daughters. This is not the fun part of being a parent. There she is standing in front of you in her mature grown up body. She tells you, she can handle...
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I love the ocean. I enjoy the smell of the ocean, the song of the seagulls and the sound of waves crashing upon the shore. Nothing feeds my soul like the ocean. Last week I took one last trip to the beach before school starts. I...
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Your daughter is going to get upset. The question is how will you handle it? This is a hard one for moms. We hate to see our daughters unhappy, so we jump in and try to fix it, but we make it worse. Your daughter needs what...
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Remember Cyndi Lauper's song from the 80's, Girls Just Want to Have Fun. You might remember singing that song at the top of your lungs driving to the lake with your friends when you were in high school or college. But that was along time ago...
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Do you evaluate if you're "getting it right" as a parent, by how well your daughter's performing? This feels logical. You think, "If my daughter is behaving and performing well, then I am doing things right, but if not, I must be failing." Here is the...
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I remember when I was 8 months pregnant when an acquaintance came up me and said, Is this your first? I said, "YES" in a happy voice. With a smirky grin she said, "You just wait!!!!!!!!!" Several years ago someone asked me how old my daughter was and...
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Does your daughter feel like you are the clothing police? Well you are not the only one. This is definitely one of the hot topics for mothers and daughters. (and not in a good way.) You give her constructive criticism. "That dress doesn't look good on you."...
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I learn a lot from my clients. Cheryl is a mother of 2 teenage girls and is a stay-at-home mom. She recently found marijuana in Riley's (her youngest daughters) room. Cheryl was extremely upset and had a hard time focusing and getting anything done which...
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This is a great question to ask yourself. How do you want this year to be different? The problem is we don't give ourselves time to ask ourselves this question or come up with the answers. Most of us never take the next step, which is developing...
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A new school year is starting. This is a great time to ask yourself how you want this year to be different. One way this year can be different is how you take care of YOU. It is very common for moms to feel guilty about...
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Summer is starting to fade away, and the reality hits us. Another school year is upon us. For many mothers the first day of school is a happy day. You get your time and space back. You can relax because you know your daughter is back...
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What is a thriving home environment? A thriving home environment is all the circumstances, conditions, or factors that enable and encourage your family to thrive. Your daughter can be fabulous, but if she is planted in stressful or negative soil she is not going to thrive. I love...
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My daughter is a dancer and is keenly aware of movement. Because of this she has an interesting talent. She can identify and mimic all my families' signature moves. It is hilarious. All of us have gestures that we tend to repeat like my nephew scratches...
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I live in Texas. Everyone in Texas rides a horse, right? (Well, maybe not in Houston.) One weekend I was visiting my sister in Austin. We went to see some friends who lived outside of Austin who had four horses on several acres of land. Her...
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No parent wants to believe their middle school teen (or younger) is sexting. Maybe it's not your teen, but it's the teen culture. One thing that moms don't think about, is that your teen may not be an initiator of the sexting but could easily...
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We call it multi-tasking. Women pride themselves for being able to do a million things at once. Here's my question. How's it working for you? My guess is that it's not working that well. Something is going to be compromised. It's not just that we are doing several...
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Current trends show that teens exercise less and sit more. The problem is teenage girls need exercise more than ever. Exercise gets kicked to the curb with screen time (Internet, Facebook, and TV) and demanding homework. Another reason for the decrease in exercise is the super star...
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