“We don’t want perfect moms. My mom was the perfect child and she expects me to be perfect. She doesn’t bend. It has to be her way. As hard as I try to please her, I feel unworthy.” Jenny said this last week in...
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Some people call it the ‘Critical Internal Dialogue’. I just call it the Mean Voice. Beware of the Mean Voice. It robs you of enjoying your life. What is the Mean Voice? The Mean Voice is an internal dialogue. Often we are not aware of it because...
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Have you ever complained, “My husband won’t stop and ask for directions.” Then you go on to say, “We wasted an hour driving all over town. If we had stopped—it would have taken us 5 minutes and we’d been there on time.” But moms, we’re guilty...
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(Yes this week is crazy busy and those of you who have taken time to read this I applaud you.) Has your computer ever been attacked by viruses and spyware? It can drive you nuts. Your computer starts going real slow and it feels...
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Most people would be jealous of Lisa; beautiful, in great shape, married to her soul mate, and lives in a fabulous home. She has one teenage girl at home and one in college. So why isn’t she happy? Yesterday, in my office, Lisa was telling me about...
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Lights are twinkling in our neighborhoods and holiday music is playing everywhere. The holiday season is here. I was reminded of one of my favorite Christmas songs when I was little, “All I want for my Christmas is my two front teeth….” This is very...
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Get prepared for the holidays! The shopping malls have been ready since October with decorations of shiny tinsel, red bows, gigantic wreaths, and white lights. In a blink of an eye Thanksgiving will be here and then the busy the season hits. If you are not intentional...
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“I want you to know I am proud of you and you are an awesome mom.” Wouldn’t it be great if someone told you that every day? How would you feel if you really believed it? “You are an awesome mom!” It feels good doesn’t it? I have listened...
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What do you do when you have had ‘one of those weeks’? You know the kind of week I am talking about. It’s the kind of week where you thought you had it figured out. You thought you were ahead of the game. It was...
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You wish things would change and get better but you think it’s unrealistic. You think “life works out for other people but not for me.” No matter what you tell yourself, you still long for things to be different. I have seen thousands of...
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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!!!!!!!!!” And it happened recently. Someone asked me how old my daughter was...
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Every mother has said these words or thought these words. “You WILL do what I say!” You ask your daughter to study for a test or clean her room. You think it is a simple request. It should take 30 minutes at the most. She...
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I love pie. All kind of pies: blueberry, chocolate pecan, peach, apple, blueberry and lemon meringue. I could go on and on. I remember Nana my grandmother making lemon meringue pies. She didn’t buy the frozen crust from the grocery store. She would make a...
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When you think about starting a new school year does your mind recall all the struggles from last year? You think of how grouchy your daughter is in the mornings when you try to wake her up for school? You think of her blowing off her...
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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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“R*E*S*P*E*C*T Find out what it means to me.” Sing it Aretha! This is the theme song for moms of teenage daughters. You want your daughter to respect you. Right? Here’s how. You want your daughter to think highly of you. You want her to listen to your words...
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I am sitting in a Starbucks in market square in Pittsburgh. I have done a lot of writing from this Starbucks in the past 3 weeks. It’s raining outside and I am glad to be inside drinking coffee and having this time to write. While...
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The lazy days of summer are finally here. Well, not quite. Most of us are still catching our breath from the craziness of the last couple of weeks of school. What are you hoping for this summer? I’m sure you and your daughter are expecting different...
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Mothers tend to be a little dazed and confused at this time of year. The last couple of weeks of school can be very stressful and extremely busy. Kids are dreaming about the summer. They are planning trips to the pool, beach or lake house. They...
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I was riding my bike around Rice University’s campus and I saw people looking at a 5 foot wide by about 12 foot tall piece of cement with some graffiti on it. I was curious, so I went to see what it was. It was...
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