4 Tips to Parenting

Hi Everyone-

Last week we chatted about my fear. You know we all have something that holds up back. I say recognize it and lets overcome it. You just can’t let fear control your life! Mind over matter or it doesn’t matter. I talked about how I wanted to work on being a better wife as my business grows, and now I am going to work through my goals as a mom.

I have a couple of easy goals to say but perhaps implementing them will be difficult.

1) Provide food, shelter, clothes, and their education
2) Provide support, wisdom, and love
3) Create special memories with each child
4) Continue to focus on my relationship with my husband so we can continue to have a cohesive family and we can be on the same parenting page

1) Provide food, shelter, clothes, and their education

We are pleased to announce that we have in fact paid off our house. I will tell you how we did that in the next couple of weeks. I will say a lot of it we learned by following the principles in our how to live on 30,000 or less posts. We have several and they will help you learn to live a fuller life on less money.

The food thing is me trying to feed my children healthy recipes. I shared a bunch of the recipes I make and freeze. I also cooked these great pumpkin waffles with greek yogurt. You can find the recipe here. The key to healthy eating is preparation. I just limit the junk food in our house and that helps.

Clothes well I am a huge thrift shopper and I do clothes swaps, so that is an awesome thing to do. I also share how I find places to buy clothes for under $10.

Education is very important to our family. It is actually our highest cost each month now that our mortgage is gone. We send our children to private school but even if we didn’t education is still what I consider the game changer. It is the difference between your child’s success and failure in the world. I believe education is more than just going to school. It is exposure to the world. It is the lessons you teach them. It is how you live your life as an example. I encourage you to read to and with your children. I encourage you to have conversations with your kids. I also encourage you to put away for their education we have a great 52 week savings plan. You can also teach your children about the value of money we use our own envelope plan.

2) Provide support, wisdom, and love

I want you to find the time to put down your electronics and instead enjoy your children. I am going to do the same. You need to support them and love them and talk to them. I tell my children about my failures, and I share how I achieved success. They need to know you aren’t perfect. You had to make tough choices, put in long hours, and sometimes no matter what you do it isn’t going to work out. Life is about how you handle your failures.

3) Create special memories with each child

I recently hosted an unplanned birthday party. She wasn’t supposed to have one she opted for a gift instead, but she said, “Mommy, can I have pizza and cake and friends.” I said, “Yes.” I am trying to say yes to building memories. I learn a lot from my children, and one of the greatest lessons is time doesn’t stand still. I need to remember they are only little once, and soon they will not want special time with me. I currently take each child on a date as often as possible alone. The date may involve an errand or a treat or even a ride to some place to take pictures. What I do know is there is no greater gift than the people in your life. I encourage you to know it isn’t what you can buy them it is the time you spend together.

4) Continue to focus on my relationship with my husband so we can continue to have a cohesive family and we can be on the same parenting page

My husband and I have been together for almost 19 years. We still work on our relationship. We will always have to work on our relationship. We are committed to growing together not apart. We are on this journey together and we believe that to be the best parents we need to be the best partners. I am currently planning a surprise date at home. I will share what I did and how it went after it happens just in case he reads this.