Happy, Holy Mama

When I first started homeschooling I had sage advice coming at me left and right. And at first I took it all in, relishing the dream that my homeschool might be one day when I had it all figured out…and I felt just like those sage, seasoned mamas.  They were so confident. Wise. Certain. But at the time, I felt none of those things.  And so, unfortunately, their sage advice was falling on somewhat...

When you look back over your earlier mothering years, or even just last week, do you have pangs of regret and sadness at how you handled things? Me too. But I've found a way to turn those past mistakes into blessings for today, to improve your relationships, and start to increase your overall enjoyment and experience of your motherhood. Which is the first thing that needs to improve before you try...

Last week was...powerful, to put it mildly . So powerful that I'm compelled to share as many nuggets from each of our Reset Your Homeschool days with you knowing that the Holy Spirit has something powerful in store for you, too, this semester. During Reset Week we covered:  Evaluating and Moving Forward Intentionally Your Mindset as a Homeschooler and Handling Failure Better Your Compass, Decision...

Many kids are starting back to school this week and as a homeschooler you are likely one of them or considering it. BEFORE you play with your sparkly new planner, jump back into curriculum, or changing what you've been doing, I want to give you four steps to follow to make planning smoother, and a few mindset shifts to make whatever plans you create more repeatable so you follow through and make p...

What do you wish you could tell yourself when you were younger? Either as a younger woman or a younger mom, what do you wish you would have known? For me, I wish I could have known how to rest in the present moment. I wish I would have had more peace amidst the chaos. I wish I would have known how to enjoy my kids more when they were little. I wish I would have known how much God loved me and that...

Sometimes, I look back at certain Christmas photos of our family next to the Nativity scene after Christmas mass, and I feel a twinge of sadness, regret, or even bitterness because I know how painful getting that photo was.  Whatever happened surrounding that photo was just hard , and those memories are forever connected to those photos. If you know what I'm talking about and would like to have a...

Self-care gets a bad wrap, because it can be over-indulgent if you're not careful.  On the opposite end of the spectrum there is 'offering it up,' which, if done well, can be extremely powerful for God's good work. But, if used against yourself, being self-sacrificing could end in some deeply painful and harmful self-neglect.  This tension between being sacrificial and taking care of yourself is o...

Do you ever feel like you're stuck looking at the crumbs and mess, feeling bombarded by the noise, and have zero drive to get up and keep going? Motherhood, and especially homeschooling, can start to feel like a hopeless endeavor if you're not careful and purposeful about what you choose to focus on.  Whatever is the center of your focus is what will continue to grow. So, if you're focused on the...

The  dream  is a cozy and simple Advent, where we can be present and peaceful as we await Jesus' birth with joyful expectation. Unfortunately, between holiday preparations, shopping, music recitals, multiple family obligations, meal prep, and, oh yeah -  every day life , Advent is often anything but the dream. In today's podcast episode, I'm sharing with you a few things to think about to simplify...

Between the litrugical calendar and the secular world, this time of year lends itself toward celebration and thanksgiving! It really can be such a wonderful, joyful experience. But what about when gratitude feels hard? When a blessing doesn't feel like a blessing or a gift doesn't feel like a gift? Instead of slapping on a fake smile through gritted teeth, wishing you felt better, I'd like to invi...

It can be so hard to communicate with your husband, especially at the end of a long day, or in the middle of a tough situation. We need to have important conversations, especially when it comes to our family's budget, financial health, and look at the upcoming holiday spending. But how do you do that when, in the past, it's ended in anger, hurt feelings, and disconnection? In today's episode, I'm...

Fear of the government, social media, bad influences, and misinformation are just some of the external fears we face as moms. However, it's the internal fears that tend to keep us up at night. Am I do a good enough job? Will they have what they need? Did I mess up too badly? Am I ruining them? With so many things to fear, it's easy for a mom to feel paralyzed with what to do and how to raise coura...

How much time do you waste beating yourself up every day? Or even how much money you spend on ways to feel better? Do you realize how much you invest in feeling bad? This isn't a condemnation, most people do this completely unintentionally. And then, unintentionally, beat themselves up further for having done all of that and it becomes a vicious cycle and leads to getting stuck. And, unfortunately...

Do you ever just want to throw in the towel when your kid seems to prioritize everything else in the world, instead of completing their school work? Or when you catch them on their screens when they should be doing their chores? Throwing in the towel feels like you've failed and is the step right before sending your kids to the nearest public school. Since that doesn't seem to be what God is actua...

When I was a younger mom I wanted to learn more about myself, because I really wanted to change how I reacted (or overreacted as it were) to my kids, messy house, pretty much everything in my life. But I really resisted learning about the Four Temperaments, because it felt like I would be 'put into a box' that I couldn't get out of. I didn't like the idea of some test confirming my worst fears abo...

One of the biggest obsatcles to having more peace in your day is finding acceptance of uncomfortable and even painful situations you find yourself in. Especially when it comes to your kids. I can already hear you reply, "But I can't be okay with bad behavior! Or disrespect!"  Or anything else that feels problematic right now. Like poor worth ethic, lying, politics, inflation, or just your husband'...

Let me guess...rushing the kids to get their chores done doesn't seem to help. Nagging them to focus on their assignments doesn't either. And yelling...well that certainly doesn't get you any closer to getting out the door with all their belongings on time. So what  does help? Grab your earbuds and let's talk about what you need to do (and what you need to let go of) in order to save time in your...

My husband and I recently took our oldest son on a couple of college visits to Catholic universities with the sport programs that he hopes to participate in. These visits went the way we'd expected them to, leaving with official offers from head coaches and significant academic scholarships to each. But the conversations we had with our senior along the way were what changed his ultimate trajector...

When was the last time you looked at your life just to find the miracles? You might not think it's a good use of your time, but in today's episode, I'm going to share with you why I think it's one of the best ways to spend your time. Because when you can find the miracles in your life, especially in your past, then you'll have little to no trouble handing your (or your children's) future over to G...

If you are prone to resisting or avoiding something uncomfortable, like prioritizing yourself, asking for what you need, planning your time, or saying No to someone... ...then you're going to want to listen to this episode. I'm going to walk you through a deeper understanding of the impact of your emotions and how to start using them as currency to create the experience you want to be having of yo...

Between putting out fires, constant interruptions, and legitimately more time needs than there are hours in the day it can feel like there's too much to do and not enough of you. I need to get better at time management!  is one of the most common complaints I hear from homeschooling mamas, but they never know where to start...because everything  feels so painful. Which is why I've taken the most c...

If you have anxiety around how much you have to do and frustration over not having enough time to do it all in, then I have a short and sweet podcast episode just for you today! Because the thought, there's not enough time, is one of the biggest MYTHS you are likely believing… …and it's just not true.  In fact, that thought is actually covering up a different, bigger concern that you don't even kn...

Some of my worst homeschooling days have been the ones where I have lost my peace over every little thing. Like repeating myself for the nth time, being interrupted left and ride, and feeling like we were never  going to finish an entire day's plan within one school day. On my worst days I have felt overwhelmed, angry, inadequate...and deeply believing that I was ruining my kids. And in today's ep...

You might be a homeschooler who doesn't like to look too far ahead into the future, because it feels overwhelming to plan more than a few weeks in advance. If that's the case, then, unfortunately, you might also be someone who struggles at the end of the year if you don't up where you had hoped to in May. That's because when you don't think about what you want the end result to look like, then: Yo...

If you've ever spent the Sunday morning drive to mass dreading other people seeing your hot mess family and fuming that you're running late, you have probably tried to fake-it-til-you-made-it as you arrived. Likely to find that it didn't last long, because it just doesn't feel genuine and takes a significant amount of energy, that you probably just didn't have left. In today's episode, I'm going t...