Tag Archives: calm

When the Noise Gets to You

I know that my years of parenting have increased my tolerance for all sorts of things: mess, chaos, whining, and noise. It is amazing how quickly we acclimate. Even if we used to be the most calm and mellow person, craving and appreciating our quiet alone time–we do get used to the noise and rambunctiousness of family life. Well, at least most of us get used to it and for most of the time… I was at a coffee shop the other day and while it was a busy place, it was relatively calm–there was the constant buzz of adult … Continue reading →

Trying to Be Unshockable

By nature, I can be somewhat excitable. I have my own rosy fantasy of how I think life should go and when it comes to my kids, I don’t always keep up with the times and reality no matter how hip I try to be. But, with a house full of teens, I have been working to keep my excitable nature under control and at least appear as if I cannot be shocked. I remember being a kid myself and how I absolutely loved to be shocking for my parents (not so much my grandparents since I really wanted them … Continue reading →

In Praise of Patience

The other day, I was on a bus coming home from a very hectic and kooky day. The bus was crowded and a young mother got on with a rather vocal and “busy” toddler. As soon as the bus got good and crowded, and started to pull away from the station curb, the toddler started into screaming and crying. I’m talking head-splitting, ear-piercing, not-what-you-want-to-hear-at-five-o’clock fit-throwing. While I wouldn’t have blamed the mother if she lost her cool, instead I was dazzled by how patient and playful she remained—even under the annoyance and heavy gazes of a bus full of commuters. … Continue reading →

Making the Most of a Cooling Down Period

This past weekend, my older teenage daughters and I were sitting and chatting, eating cheese crackers and catching up. I have been delighted to find that when they pass the rockiest of the adolescent years (I surely hope), they do want to hang out occasionally with mom again and my daughters actually ASK me to spend time with them. Okay, that’s the good part. The not-so-great part is that now that they are older, they provide some comment and reflection on how I’ve gone about the business of parenting. This past weekend, the conversation came around to “mom’s cooling down … Continue reading →

Patience Can Be Hard to Cultivate

Sure, we are always hearing about patience! As parents, we KNOW we should have more patience–with our children, with ourselves, with the untalented drivers we encounter on our morning commute. We know this, but finding a way to cultivate patience in our parenting lives is an entirely different matter… As for my struggles with patience issues–I find it far easier to be patient with my kids (most of the time) than I do to be patient with myself. Over the years, I have learned more about waiting for the right time for things, saving and being able to delay gratification … Continue reading →

Your Home: Peace and Quiet

Our homes can be noisy places. The noise level has a lot to do with the amount of activity, but even when your family members aren’t particularly active, there are still many sounds. The TV, the stereo, people talking, children laughing, water running, the furnace or air conditioner blowing, and perhaps the washing machine or dryer going, can make for a lot of noise. These and other noises, or the combination of many, may not even be loud, but all that noise together can take its toll on us. Sometimes, we just need to turn off as many items as … Continue reading →

Devotions of Peace

When people consider the word “peace” they do not often think of the word peace within the bounds of its Biblical meaning. People instantly think of world peace, or peace between feuding parties. People consider peace to be the “absence of hostility” or perhaps the “absence of chaos.” Consider the first listing for the word peace on Dictionary.com: “the normal, nonwarring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world.” But do these definitions really describe what is meant by Biblical peace? While there are times in the Bible, when the word peace is used in the sense of … Continue reading →