In the last 8 weeks (or however long we’ve been doing this… feels more like 2934 weeks, right?), I’ve gone through the stages of “grief” just as you have (and probably still are) over the loss of what my life used to look like and how it’s changed since the Shelter-In-Place orders and new country-wide regulations and social expectations. Within those grief stages, we’ve had to do things like: reorganize our schedules, reset our expectations, rearrange the ways our home functions, apologize to the people we love for responding in less-than-perfect ways (times a million), find new ways to feel accomplished since it’s seemingly impossible to meet the old expectations of…
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Easy + Sustainable Home Learning Management System — FREE Video Tutorial!
If your family is anything like ours, you’ve gone through seasons of feeling like you’ve “got it all figured out” (which only lasts a day or two) and seasons of feeling like a complete chaotic failure when it comes to homeschooling and home learning. I have good news, though! Regardless of how many more weeks you’ve got in your homeschooling career, I was finally able to film and edit a quick video tutorial showing you the system that has been a game changer in organizing and managing our two kiddos and their school work (both physical and digital) for the last several weeks. I hope it’s helpful to you and…
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That Crushing, Drowning Feeling: A Peek into a Private Conversation
Last week I had a DM conversation inside Instagram, and it was one that made me think, “If she has these questions, I’ll bet she’s not alone in her wonderings!” So I’d like to share what we discussed with you here. Cool? Great. Her questions were these: Are you debt free aside from your mortgage? If so, what is your motivation for frugal spending? Is it because of a frugal upbringing (or in spite of your upbringing, maybe)? She shared that for her, she knows that before she can truly get “on board” with some things, she really needs to fully understand them and know that they are “just” and…
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Our Family’s Top 10 Immunity Tips: What We Use To Stay Well During Cold and Flu Season
I don’t know what it is, but I feel like the sickness going around JUST WON’T LET UP!! The funk tried to grab ahold of three of the four of us this week, but thankfully it didn’t last long or hit too hard! I’ve been fighting back tooth and nail (or should I say, “with essential oils and vitamins”)! I want to share with you some easy things that we do in our family to boost our immune systems and fight back agains the onslaught of germs that seems to be never ending this season. Hopefully this will encourage you in seeing how a few simple steps, done regularly, can…
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The Secret to Functioning Adulthood in the Midst of Survival Mode
I came across this lovely gem of a photo thanks to Facebook’s Memories feature, and just feel like my face captures so much of early motherhood: The first thing I see in this photo (besides that pretty little squish with her signature mohawk hairdo) is my facial expression. It says, “I’m here! I showered! I may not have any makeup on, my eyebrows may be almost invisible (thank you 90’s over-plucking popularity), but my hair even looks decent. I’m with people I love, and I really am happy. However… I’m also dying a little inside because my 7 month old never lets me put her down without screaming like I’m…
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Free Thank You Notes Tracker For the Family
Every year, I think about how I need to be sure and follow through on writing Thank You notes to our friends and family for their thoughtful gifts to our family, and every year I fail to do so for one reason or another. This year, I’m putting the onus on our kids for their parts! 😉 I have created 5 uniquely designed pages for the kids to keep track of their own gifts received (well, I’ll be writing Parker’s for her, I’m sure, but she’ll be in charge of making sure I get them all on there)! Best part? They’re FREE! WOOHOO! Click here to get your own copy…
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The Lie of Parental Perfection
Hey mama, you’re not supposed to be perfect.⠀ ⠀ You’re not called to perfection. Actually….That would be some crippling sort of goal for your kids to live up to if you were. I mean, can you imagine? Some of us HAVE grown up thinking our parents (or at least one of them) was perfect in one area of life or another. Was that you? Did you grow up always attempting to be perfect like they were – only to be crushed by the results of your incapability of perfection? ⠀ ⠀ Instead of perpetuating this cycle, just show them your brokenness. ⠀ ⠀ Show them your failures. ⠀ ⠀ Show…
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You Can’t Do It Alone. Stop Trying.
“It takes a village…” Never will you comprehend the truth of this statement until you are responsible for not only keeping a small human alive, but also feel the pressure from all sides and opinions of every person you know and even more from those who you don’t know (thanks, social media…)! This place? The JML Family? This is a safe place. We are here FOR YOU. We exist to take away the shame, guilt, and pressure that the world consistently provides for us as mothers. I heard once that when an elephant is giving birth, the other female elephants in the herd will gather around her in a tight…
