Lisa Jacobson's Blog, page 11
October 26, 2016
How To Equip Your Children for Those Hard Conversations
We have something in common. I’m sure of it. We know exactly what it feels like to be asked a gazillion questions that all begin with something similar to “But mommy, why?”
No matter where you are in your parenting journey, I am going to assume that you know exactly what I am talking about! The “why” phase is inevitable. Sometimes the questions have a simple, quick and easy answer or require no response at all. But other questions can bring even the wisest parent to a complete halt or state of confusion and those are the times we must say, “Because that’s the way God made it.”
Children Crave Knowledge
I can recall long car rides with my 4-year-old as she fired questions like “Mommy why is the sky blue?”, “Mommy why do dogs bark?” and one of my favorites– “Mommy if all of my toes grow, why is the baby one still so small?”
Now, that one stumped me. I simply had no explanation! However, I was in complete awe of her developing cognitive skills. Watching her brain process left me feeling nostalgic and grateful for youthful innocence.
Letting my children interpret and navigate the world around them brings me pure joy.
Continue reading How To Equip Your Children for Those Hard Conversations at Club31Women.com
October 25, 2016
How to Make the Most of Your Nighttime Routine, Plus 3 Secrets to Success {Real Life with Lisa}
Your morning routine is only as good as your nighttime routine.
True, isn’t it?
I’d not thought of it quite like that, but thanks to Heather – a friend and reader – I recognize it now. She mentioned it in a comment which also included a question on how we spend our evenings?
So, after having shared with you Those 7 Things I Do Each Morning That Make My Day Go A Whole Lot Better, I realized I need to follow up with what makes for a good nighttime routine!
Heather makes a good point about how our nighttime routine makes a significant impact on our mornings too. Here she says it in her own words.….
My problem is getting to bed. So my question is, what is your night time routine?
We had a great one at one time. I know that the morning time routine will be only as good as your night time routine.
I try to get our boys in bed by 8:30 so I can unwind and do whatever I can’t when they’re awake (blogging or writing) so I can get to bed by 10.
Continue reading How to Make the Most of Your Nighttime Routine, Plus 3 Secrets to Success {Real Life with Lisa} at Club31Women.com
October 24, 2016
For When You Are Fresh Out of Amazing {& Book Giveaway}
I managed to crumple into a heap on my bed while holding the babe. I was still a mother, even in this melted state. I finally released the kind of tears you cry when a dozen times previous they’ve been stifled. These weren’t just today’s sobs. The questions I’d been evading for weeks, perhaps even months, fell into my mind like bombs being dropped by planes overhead, strafing across my otherwise rational thinking.
Who was I to think I could live my life well—this life right in front of me—and with any sense of joy?
At what point did I move from having a good handle on my priorities to just surviving my days?
Have I just messed this all up? What is wrong with me that I’m here, now, unable to hold it together?
Creeping Failure
I clamped my eyes shut, over the tears, as if I could somehow close the door on all the questions, the insecurity, the creeping sense of failure, and go on to make a fantastic gourmet dinner in a spotless kitchen. As if I could even press pause on the swirling around me for long enough to pray, or even form a sentence or grab a tissue.
Continue reading For When You Are Fresh Out of Amazing {& Book Giveaway} at Club31Women.com
October 23, 2016
The One Thing Your Child Needs Most From You
Not everyone knows this about me.
But I love making bread.
I’m not sure what it is, but for some reason I find the process incredibly relaxing and rewarding – maybe even downright therapeutic.
There’s something about grinding the wheat, mixing and kneading the dough, and baking the loaves. It reaches deep down inside me.
So right and good for my soul.
Yet there’s this one problem.
My kids love making bread too. With me.
And I hate to say it, but this changes the experience for me – significantly.
Because when I have my little helpers? I’m no longer unwinding or getting lost in the wonder of it all.
Instead, I find myself distracted by their wiggly fingers and chattery words. The mess, the mistakes, and the mayhem. My nerves are inevitably on edge by the time the loaves are tucked safely in the oven.
No, it’s definitely not the same experience at all.
So what to do?
I have a difficult decision to make: Should I minister to my own soul .
Continue reading The One Thing Your Child Needs Most From You at Club31Women.com
October 20, 2016
Amazing Missionary Adventures Your Children Should Know
I grew up in Alaska.
The short summers there have days that never end. And if it wasn’t raining, and the mosquitoes weren’t too bad, we would be out until well past a reasonable bedtime.
But when winter came, it was dark and cold. The evenings were long, and perfect for reading books by the dozen. My siblings and I spent hours almost every night, curled up around the wood stove reading or listening while my parents read aloud from book after book every winter of my childhood.
Missionary Heroes
Those evenings around the fire served as introductions to some of the greatest men and women who ever lived: missionary heroes. David Livingstone, the abolitionist explorer. Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Mission. Mary Slessor, the brave woman who wasn’t afraid to go alone where Jesus called her. Brother Andrew, the man whom God gave extra courage. Gladys Aylward, the little woman who was loved by the people she went to serve.
Their names were like the names of old family friends. Their stories echoed in my heart long after the last page of the book was read, and long after I grew up and moved away from home.
Continue reading Amazing Missionary Adventures Your Children Should Know at Club31Women.com
October 18, 2016
The 7 Keys to Getting Along with Your In-Laws {Real Life with Lisa}
I liked her from the very first.
She was strong, straightforward, and no-nonsense. A real pioneer woman. Hard-working and resolute. My husband’s mother welcomed me into the family with few questions asked.
We got along just fine, she and I.
Because of dad’s heart trouble, we invited her and dad to move in with us. That would be 18 years ago now.
And we’ve been through a lot together since then.
Birth, sickness, laughter, late nights, and loss. Good times and tough times.
Two strong women living in the same house.
And, yes, I learned to love her.
But there’s no denying that getting along with your in-laws can be one of the more challenging aspects of your married life. Can’t it.
Will you believe me when I say I know? ‘Cause I do.
Yet I’ve learned a few things over our years together. Things I wish I would have understood better before. At least 18 years ago. Because I think it would’ve helped. Would probably have helped us both actually.
Continue reading The 7 Keys to Getting Along with Your In-Laws {Real Life with Lisa} at Club31Women.com
October 17, 2016
My Top 5 Tips to Help You Out in Homemaking
She told me that she remembers it well.
My friend – more like my mom’s friend – said she can still picture me as a young girl walking around with my duster in one hand . . . and my nose buried in a book in my other. Dusting the bookshelves without ever glancing up from my own reading.
My idea of “doing my chores.”
This explains a lot of things really.
Like how I spent most of my childhood with my head in the clouds.
Like how I never did pay much attention to housework (just as my mom always suspected).
And why I was clueless about homemaking when I first got married.
Not the end of the world, I suppose.
Except that once the honeymoon was over, I woke up and looked around our small, 2-bedroom apartment and suddenly realized
I
knew
nothing
about keeping house.
Or at least next to nothing.
Continue reading My Top 5 Tips to Help You Out in Homemaking at Club31Women.com
October 16, 2016
Six Qualities of A Gifted Child And How to Encourage Him
When I was getting my teaching certificate in college, my very first classroom observation was in a middle school TAG (Talented and Gifted) classroom. It was the first time I had heard of this label. In the Texas school, these students had been tested and were found to be gifted. Because of this, they were put in a few special classes throughout their public education.
The next year, when I did my student teaching, I had the same group of students again. They were freshmen in high school, and I was in charge of their TAG English class.
All day long, I taught regular and advanced English classes. The last class of the day was this TAG class, and it was a unique group that stood out greatly from the others.
The TAG students were loud. That’s what I remember the most.
Learn to Appreciate and Encourage Gifted Students
I could hear them coming, en masse, down the hallway to class. Usually, they were singing boisterously –always laughing. The class took more energy to lead, because they were witty and highly interactive. They lived outside of the box.
Continue reading Six Qualities of A Gifted Child And How to Encourage Him at Club31Women.com
October 13, 2016
4 Refreshing Books for Moms of Older Adopted Children
Adoption of any kind carries with it some real challenges. Parenting, itself, is quite the journey—but take out the initial nine-month bonding and it’s like playing a ball game without all your players.
Take away the rest of the formative years and you’re playing a whole new game entirely.
Oh, some things sound exactly the same. For example, my two children, who each came home at eight years old, can really bicker. Normal, right? For sure! Siblings bicker at times.
Except it’s not.
While it sounds the same, they’re not actually playing the same game. Cutting remarks like, “Mom and Dad adopted me because they really wanted a boy, and now they’re going to get rid of you”, would be annoying to a biological birth child. If my brother had said that to me, I probably would have gotten mad at him. I might have wondered if my parents really did want another boy and not me. It may have left me a little insecure for a time.
It wouldn’t have sent me spiraling into a three-week meltdown where I withdrew from relationships, was ridiculously angry at my parents, and wished I could just die instead of face rejection one more time.
Continue reading 4 Refreshing Books for Moms of Older Adopted Children at Club31Women.com
October 12, 2016
4 Hidden Benefits of Playing Board Games
My boys love to play board games.
Often you will find us spread out on the floor with one in the afternoon once our lessons and chores are finished. I remember playing many board games growing up (including a Monopoly game that went on for almost a year). I really love that my boys love playing games and it’s a great way to spend time together as a family.
We used to have family game nights (and I hope to get back to that soon). It was really fun to pull out 3-4 games and play for an hour or two before bedtime. Board games are great at any age and provide a lot of fun and laughter, but there are also many other benefits that you may not realize.
Hidden Benefits of Board Games
Teaches problem-solving
My little guy is a strategizing genius when we play games. He is constantly thinking about his next move and trying to figure out how he can keep you from winning the game. Board games provide a lot of opportunities to practice problem-solving.
I try to talk my boys through their different options during the game.
Continue reading 4 Hidden Benefits of Playing Board Games at Club31Women.com
