(Inside: To my child off to college, it turns out that these 18 years of parenting you were not a sacrifice at all. They were a privilege and gift.) To …
When the Mom Ache Hits, I Look for Answered Prayers
When the mom ache hits, I look for answered prayers. In motherhood, there’s always something to look forward to.
When the Mom Ache Hits, This is How I Feel Better
Mom, feel better about how way-too-fast the time goes with our kids, by doing this one powerful and easy form of therapy. Read on…
Your Kid is Launching But Not Today
My kid is about to graduate and move out, and this one thought comforts me. Is your kid launching? Maybe this will help you too…
Parents, Delight in the Beauty of this Big-Kid Season
This big kid season causes moms such mom ache because we feel how fast it’s all going. But, mom, see the beauty in front of you…
This Surprising and Beautiful Mom Realization Happened While Taking Prom Pictures
Taking prom pictures of my son unleashed this beautiful realization that filled my heart all the way up and made me feel lucky…
Momma, Time Moves Too Fast But Can Never Take Away THIS
Time moves too fast. When we think about this, grief can overcome moms. Time does take away so much, but it can never, ever take away this HUGE THING.
To The Moms Who Are Letting Go And Holding On
To the mom who is letting go and holding on, I am right there with you. It’s tearing our hearts up and also… Read on…
We NEED the Pain from Watching Kids Grow Up
(Inside: Watching your kids grow up is painful, but maybe that pain serves you well. Maybe you need it. And this is why…)
I think I know why it can be so painful for parents to watch our kids grow.
Let me back up…
Once my second (of three) sons started high school, a panicked feeling of where-did-the-time-go hit me like a Mack truck. I’m not exaggerating when I say, I’d wake up in the middle of the night, heart pounding, thinking how is this period with kids in my home almost over? I love raising big kids; I don’t want this season to end. How am I actually here, and where did the time go?
(I am never dramatic or hard to be around at all.)
This happened night after night.
Until a random thought hit me in the middle of an ordinary day and made me feel a smidge better: maybe moms-of-bigs NEED that sinking feeling that time is slipping through our fingers. Perhaps the pain in our hearts helps us “finish strong”?
Even though I’m closer to the end than the beginning, I still have years of big kids in my home in front of me. And we all know that that means…
Grocery shopping.
Games and activities.
Checking grades.
Maintaining household routines.
Appointments.
Carpooling.
Busyness.
And in the whirlwind…
When we’re exhausted from a long day at work and our teen wants to talk at 10 pm, we find the energy because we know how fast it all goes.
When we’re busy juggling activity drop-offs, signing field trip permission slips, flipping the laundry, and running to buy poster board, we still rinse and repeat daily. We find the time to volunteer to be on the booster club and live stream the game so the far-away grandparents can watch because we know how fast it all goes.
When we’re overwhelmed with our tween’s middle school behaviors or lack of school engagement or friendship struggles, we continue to stay present and look for solutions. We find the resources because we know how fast it all goes.
When our teens need to learn to drive, we teach.
When they can’t seem to remember to hang up their wet towels, we explain. When their friends descend upon our home like locusts, eating our food and staying too long, we welcome. We find the patience because we know how fast it all goes.
When the mail holds the graduation announcement of our friend’s child, we just stop everything and soak in that we’re not quite there yet. Then we book the vacation or slow down dinner or linger at the park on the swings. We focus on just enjoying our people because we know how fast it all goes.
I hate the pain I feel over how fast our kids grow. But as I look back over the time with my kids in my home, how many times has that sad feeling helped me just stop all the things I think I should be doing and focus on what really matters to me?
My family.
My home.
Noticing, despite all the things that go wrong, how much goes right.
That pain becomes purpose. It gives me perspective, so I take the good from it and carry on feeling grateful for the exact season I am in.
Shopping for your family?
Best Booklist for High School Teenagers
Best Booklist for Middle School Tweens
Inspirational Books Moms Will Love to Read
Gift Ideas for Moms of Tweens and Teens
Gift Ideas for Teenage Boys
Gift Ideas for Teenage Girls
45+ Inexpensive Stocking Stuffers for Tweens and Teens
Easter Baskets Stuffer Ideas for Big Kids
And so many more great lists of must-haves built just for families of big kids on Empowered Moms and Kid’s specialized Amazon Affiliate Storefront…
Join this community of moms raising tweens and teens
You just dropped your kid off at practice, picked up another, and are trying to decide what to make for dinner. Your days are filled with work, parenting, and waiting for password reset emails.
You are parenting tweens and teens.
It’s an amazing life phase, but also challenging in unique ways. In it all, you’d love a little encouragement to help you laugh, grow in faith, see parenting hacks, get ideas to connect with your kid, and celebrate the awesome momma you are.
I got you, friend. Sign up for Empowered Moms and Kids monthly emails and get encouragement in your inbox geared for someone exactly in your life chapter. It’s totally free and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Plus, you’ll get instant access to all the great resources in the freebie library. Join our community below.
Are you watching your kids grow up? Read the full parenting tweens and teens series.
My two oldest sons are in high school now, and I’m still in a coma because of it. Even though I’ve taught high school for over two decades, I’m confused as to how I’m actually old enough to be a parent of a high schooler.
Teaching high schoolers has always been a passion of mine, but now parenting them is, as well. I could research, write, and talk about this topic until eternity. I hope you are encouraged by some of my articles.
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEENS
You Can’t Fix Your Struggling Teens Problems, But You Can Do This One Powerful Thing
COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR TWEEN/TEEN
How to Get Your Teen/Teen to Their “Aha Moment”
How to Get Your Tween/Teenage Son to Open Up to You
*400+ Conversation Starters for Families of Teens
PARENTING
Dear Kids – Know the Difference Between “Chores” and “Maintenance”
To the Mom of a High School Freshman
Your Teen’s Maddening Behavior is Age-Appropriate and Here’s Hope
Raising Tweens and Teens – THIS is what it looks like…
HEARTWARMING STORIES IN RAISING OLDER KIDS
I Will Miss These Years of Raising Tweens and Teens
7 Reasons Why Raising Tweens & Teens is the Best
To the Mom Who Mourns That Kids Grow Too Fast
Moms of Big Kids, Did You See Your Sacred Moments Today?
Cheryl is a mom of 3 boys, wife, speaker, high school teacher, and author of Empowered Moms & Kids. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is passionate about learning and teaching. On www.empoweredmomsandkids.com you’ll find inspiration and encouragement for moms raising tweens and/or teens. Read more in the “about” section of this page.
Goodbye, Elementary School: Honoring the Past and Moving Forward with Joy
(Inside: Today we are saying goodbye to elementary school. Our family’s been there for over a decade. I can’t believe this day is here. )
Today we’re saying goodbye to elementary school.
Our youngest son is wrapping up 5th grade.
We’re saying goodbye to so many memories.
Captain America backpacks and little shoes climbing on the bus.
Unpacking school supplies into small desks and taking pictures of our kids by the locker with their names on it.
Book fairs, ice cream parties, parent meetings, Bingo night, and family dances.
We’re saying goodbye to sifting through the take-home folders stuffed with stars-stamped-on-top papers.
The baggie books brought home to be read three times each to a family member.
Field trips to the Nature Center, Mill City Museum, a local pumpkin patch, Target Field to see their rainwater recycle system, and Mall of America Nickelodeon Universe.
We’re saying goodbye to finding a show-and-tell item to tuck into a brown paper bag.
Signing reading logs, checking daily planners, and listening to them practice their recorders.
The Fun Run and Field Day and outdoor recess.
We’re saying goodbye to their projects, like the Living History Museum where they researched someone famous, dressed up like them, and showed off their information board and iMovie in front of tables in the library.
The cute Mother’s Day crafts like the Time Magazine cover where the mom is drawn with lines for hair and big round circles for glasses, and shaky crayon words spell out “Mother of the Year.”
Coasters with their picture decoupaged onto it, crooked mugs shaped out of clay, cards stamped with a heart-shaped print of their overlapping hands, pictures drawn of the family, and square 1 art magnets of their painted masterpiece.
We’re saying goodbye to the Halloween parade with proud kids walking through the halls, showing off their costumes.
Decorated Valentine’s boxes stuffed with cards and candy.
Class parties with rotations of candy corn bingo, bowling in the hall where you have to hand pick up the pins, snowman fingerprint ornaments crafts, and creative snacks like Oreo worm dirt pudding.
We’re saying goodbye to musical performances called things like “Wild Things Zoo Review” where they sang “Never Polka with a Porcupine” and “Raptor Rap.”
Parent-teacher conferences where we look at all the various art projects hung around the room, and we snap a picture of the crest they created representing all the things their classmates should know about them.
And chatting with other parents as we wait in the lobby for our kids at the end of the day.
But mainly we’re saying goodbye to the most wonderful teachers and the best school community.
I’m all nostalgic over here.
I’m not remembering any of the hard stuff.
Instead, I’m just feeling grateful.
For eleven years in a place that nourished and taught my kids well.
Today, we’re saying goodbye…
Then looking ahead…
To so many more great family memories still left to make in whatever the next chapter might bring.
Shopping for your family?
Best Booklist for High School Teenagers
Best Booklist for Middle School Tweens
Inspirational Books Moms Will Love to Read
Gift Ideas for Moms of Tweens and Teens
Gift Ideas for Teenage Boys
Gift Ideas for Teenage Girls
45+ Inexpensive Stocking Stuffers for Tweens and Teens
Easter Baskets Stuffer Ideas for Big Kids
And so many more great lists of must-haves built just for families of big kids on Empowered Moms and Kid’s specialized Amazon Affiliate Storefront…
You’re saying goodbye to elementary school and hello to the big kid years. Be encouraged by the full “raising tweens and teens series.”
My two oldest sons are in high school now, and I’m still in a coma because of it. Even though I’ve taught high school for over two decades, I’m confused as to how I’m actually old enough to be a parent of a high schooler.
Teaching high schoolers has always been a passion of mine, but now parenting them is as well. I could research, write, and talk about this topic until eternity. I hope you are encouraged by some of my articles.
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEENS
A Simple and Effective Way to Encourage Your Teen
You Can’t Fix Your Struggling Teens’ Problems, But You Can Do This One Powerful Thing
COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR TWEEN/TEEN
How to Get Your Teen/Teen to Their “Aha Moment”
How to Get Your Tween/Teenage Son to Open Up to You
*400+ Conversation Starters for Families of Teens
PARENTING
Parenting is Hard: This One Thought Can Help You Better Thrive
Dear Kids – Know the Difference Between “Chores” and “Maintenance”
To the Mom of a High School Freshman
Your Teen’s Maddening Behavior is Age-Appropriate and Here’s Hope
Raising Tweens and Teens – THIS is what it looks like
HEARTWARMING STORIES IN RAISING OLDER KIDS
I Will Miss These Years of Raising Tweens and Teens
7 Reasons Why Raising Tweens & Teens is the Best
To the Mom Who Mourns That Kids Grow Too Fast
Moms of Big Kids, Did You See Your Sacred Moments Today?
Join this community of other moms who have said goodbye to elementary school and hello to so many other new wonderful seasons…
You just dropped one kid off at practice, picked up another, and are trying to decide what to make for dinner. Your days are filled with work, parenting, and waiting for password reset emails.
You are parenting tweens and teens.
It’s an amazing life phase, but also challenging in unique ways. In it all, you’d love a little encouragement to help you laugh, grow in faith, see parenting hacks, get ideas to connect with your kids, and celebrate the awesome momma you are.
I got you, friend. Sign up for Empowered Moms and Kids monthly emails and get encouragement in your inbox geared for someone exactly in your life chapter. It’s free and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Plus, you’ll get instant access to all the great resources in the freebie library. Join our community here or below.
Cheryl is a mom of 3 boys, wife, speaker, high school teacher, and author of Empowered Moms & Kids. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is passionate about learning and teaching. On www.empoweredmomsandkids.com you’ll find inspiration and encouragement for moms raising tweens and/or teens. Read more in the “about” section of this page.