a few really good posts [late February edition]

I haven't been reading many blogs for the last six months or so, but there are a few posts that I've read here and there and thought they were really worth sharing. I hope you enjoy them.


Brave Moms Raise Brave Kids
I love Jen Hatmaker's blog. This post is so great and so wonderfully true: scared moms raise scared kids, and brave moms raise brave kids, and real disciples raise real disciples. And the first parts about boys and boyness really made me chuckle. Keith and I had a conversation once, long before we had kids, that went something like this.

Me: Did you see that little kid zooming down the hilly sidewalk laying face-first on a skateboard?? Our kids are never going to do that!!!

Keith: There was a kid zooming down the sidewalk face-first lying face-first on a skateboard?? Awesome! Our kids are totally going to do that!

Ha ha. I'm learning. Our kids do lean a bit more toward what Jen calls Preciousness but I have spent many years mulling over exactly when I would choose to be protective and when I would let it go and I don't think I am too overprotective, though I am really careful, and though perhaps more so in some weirder areas (I suppose obsessively censoring and changing words in childrens' books might seem odd to some). Not that there aren't new letting-go scenarios to challenge me all the time. But I've had to loosen up so much more quickly with having three so close together, and I think it's a good thing. It's so easy to be a helicopter mom when you have just one. Not so much with three.

Anyway, read that post. It's great.


The Friends and Foes of Motherhood
I just really like this one. Read it and I'm pretty sure you will like it too!


On Raising Little Women (or Men): What We Can Learn From Marmee
There is something marvelous about looking back at books like Little Women and the Little House series and realizing, now that I'm an adult, just how incredible those moms were. Like Caroline Ingalls. Think about how brave and strong and organized she was through all those hard, hard trials... moving across country in a wagon, almost starving through winters and everything! And I've always thought Jo's mother sounded amazingly sweet and unruffled and wonderful. So I loved this post about Marmee.

Printable Paper Dolls

This one's just for fun. Paper dolls, anyone? Actually, since finding and printing a few, my kids have decided that having me cut whatever they like from construction paper is actually a lot easier than using this kind, and I like it better too! But if you are in the midst of the winter doldrums and reaaaallly need something new to play with, here's a cheap option. I recommend printing them on cardstock.

Proactively Protecting Our Children From Abuse and
Eight Ways to Respond When Your Child is Abused
These two are from a while ago but I thought they were so remarkable and important that I have been meaning to share them ever since. They are on the topics of protecting your children from abuse and responding if your child has been abused. They are written by my sweet, sensitive friend Marissa, who one of the most purposeful moms I know. I cannot encourage you strongly enough to take some time to read these posts and consider how you will protect your own children from abuse. The information here is golden.