Musical Beds

My husband often lamented that our house should be called the house of musical beds because it seemed everybody changed places so many times, he was never sure who would end up where by the morning. Bedtime in a family of eleven is not an easy mission not if you want to nurture each child and meet……

Hanging By My Fingernails

When my family was still young and I had only seven children from twelve-years old down to a newborn, I earnestly strove to raise the best children I could. Yet all my effort was actually hindering their development because my anxiety and control acted like a barrier, a prison around my them. I was in……

The Great Disconnect

Children — especially babies — are  little and vulnerable, vulnerable to the large, often clueless adults who care for them. Put yourself in a baby’s situation. Preverbal for years, it must be frustrating to be tired or in pain, only to have a bottle thrust into your mouth or have a tense, upset mother try…

Babies are Tyrants

Gabrielle Zevin has written a hilarious description of babies in her delightful novel, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikery. A.J. , an unrepentant curmudgeon, is literally saved after he adopts a toddler left abandoned in his bookstore. His first description of babies is unusual but comically apt. Baby Maya is a "terrorist" who makes insane demands and she…

Fathering in the 21st Century

I love how each generation of fathers are becoming more involved with childcare. My husband was much more involved with our children than his father ever was and my sons are even more comfortable changing diapers and bathing infants. .  The newest father in our family has a 2 month old son with one 2-month-oldhters.…

Friendship Friday : Laughing My Way To Wisdom

There is an old saying that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. This adage  is especially true when we need insight into our own characters because there is nothing like laughter to sneak past our defense mechanisms. A good joke is worth ten heavy-handed sermons to teach us about ourselves, parenting and to…

“Kids Are Always Watching You”

"Where did we ever get the crazy idea that in order to make children do better, first we have to make them feel worse? Think of the last time you felt humiliated or treated unfairly. Did you feel like cooperating or doing better?” -Jane Nelson "I may not be able to give my kids everything they…

Advocating For Large Families

A prompt on a health website asked, “Are you an advocate for any cause?” I sputtered to my self, “I am not an advocate for anything or anybody!” Immediately after that statement, a new idea popped into my mind, “Hey, wait a minute. I stand up for large families in modern society!” In my experience……

Friendship Friday

Friendship Friday at Create With Joy is a week-long event where you can: Share what’s unique about you and your blog! What is unique about me and my blog,,,ah just about everything. I mean who has nine kids today, lived on a farm and is now a crazy writer? Well I did feel quite marginalized……

10 Tips for Parents from Mother of Nine9

As a mother of nine kids, people often ask me, “How on earth did you manage without any help? ”   So I present a list of my top ten tips for a happy family life    . 1.  Focus on the joy of parenting, not on everything we are giving up to raise a family 2. Mothers, remember, we have one……

Tips for Survival

Useful for every Mum, Dad, Uncle, Aunt, Grandma, Grandpa and Godparent, House guest, Friend….  

Become a Baby Whisperer

Horse whisperers read a horse’s cues and respond in a way that the horse understands,using body language and voice tones. Baby whisperers relate to infants in a similar way. It is not hard to become a baby whisperer. Read all the books and then close them with a resounding slam. To become an expert on……

BBB Time: Bath, Book, Bed

  When we had a newborn baby, bedtime was transformed. On hectic days, the whole routine became an assembly line. In a family of eleven, everything is a big deal. However it was bath time, grooming time, story time and bed time that took a lot of creative problem solving abilities as well as a……

Boys ARE Different than Girls

Viva la difference. As I watched my boys play, I felt like an observer watching an alien society. Please, do not try to tell me that little boys are just socially conditioned to behave in a different way than little girls. I loudly declare that, even as babies, little boys are intrinsically different from little……

Ball and Chain in Place? Good. Now You Can Play.

Childhood should be a time to play in freedom and joy;   When I was a child, we hopped on bikes without helmets, only wore sunscreen at the beach and ate peanut butter sandwiches. When my oldest children started school in the mid to late eighty’s, they played marbles, bounced tennis balls off the school……

Mothers

 A smile for the wisdom of women, and tears for the suffering we experience to acquire it.     Painful regret  for this  hectic modern society that scrambles after flash and glitter, efficiency and success  while pushing the wisdom of mothers to the fringes of influence.    Joyful hope that women will grow in confidence to share their unique wisdom……

Teenagers: Oh Lord, How Much Longer, Oh Lord?”

One of my sons , in his early teens, had just announced that he could not stand living under our roof another minute,  “I’m out of here!”, he bellowed, “and don’t expect me to come back!” The door slammed and he tore off on his ten speed bike.  Of course my father was visiting and saw the drama unfold.……