3 Ways To Raise Happy Kids

Before starting college, I had some ideas about what I'd like to study, but it wasn't until a couple years in that I found what I wanted to commit to: marriage and family studies.  I knew that what I was learning could be applied to both my current and my future relationships, especially my future family.  Growing up, I would say that I was generally a happy kid.  I got along with my parents, I had good friends, did well in school, was involved in extracurricular activities and active in church.  But if you had asked me then how I became that way--happy--I don't know that I would have been able to nail it down.  However, through my coursework, and now through practical application (aka parenting), I've seen three ways parents can raise happy kids: building connections, setting limits and encouraging independence.

8

4 Ways To Style A Floral Skirt

Before I had kids, I dressed up a lot more.  I wore heels and my skirts and dresses had less spandex in them.  There were days I'd wake up and think, "I'll wear a skirt/dress today, just for fun!"  Fast forward to today and my daily wardrobe consists of jeans and a t-shirt with a cardigan thrown over the top with flats (nothing wrong with that).  Because when I'm chasing two kids around, running errands, playing on the ground or in the yard, I need to feel like what I'm wearing can keep up with my lifestyle.  At the same time, I want to look and feel put together and what I wear often affects how I feel.

66

4 Ways To Keep Moving Forward

Last week, I posted about the campaign I got involved in called "I Am Amazing Because..."  The purpose and goal of this campaign is to promote confidence and positivity by recognizing the talents and abilities and characteristics of those around us that we find amazing and unique and then telling them.  We, as individuals, should be included in this recognition and often I think we forget or downplay what is amazing about ourselves.  When I shared my post last week, I wrote that one of the qualities in myself that I find amazing is my ability to keep moving forward.

22

Thankful, Grateful, Blessed

I have a stack of quote cards that I keep in my bathroom.  Each week or so, I move the one on top to the back of the stack and read the next one, trying to keep it in my thoughts throughout the day and coming week.  Right now, the one on top says, "How quick we are to find the rainbow before being thankful for the rain." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

So often, we are looking for the rainbow or the light at the end of the tunnel because we just want to get through whatever we are facing and just be done with it so we can move on to other, happier things.  And don't get me wrong.  It's not like I think we should enjoy going through hard things or that we shouldn't feel relieved when they are over.  I like feeling happy and strive for it.

14

3 Ways To Feel Good About Yourself

When I was going through my awkward pre-teen and teenage years, I received a lot of comments about my size and weight.  I've always been tall and thin.  I have a high metabolism as well as being active.  Some of the comments I got were positive: "Wow, you look great!"  (Thank you.)  Others were stereotypical: "Are you trying out for cheerleading?"  (No, I'm not.)  And others implied that I had an eating disorder: "What do you eat everyday?  An apple?"  (I actually ate more than some grown men.)

26