S Club Mama

A few months ago at my moms group, a few lovely ladies told me that I seem like a very patient and calm mom. Let me be the first to say, that is unfortunately not true. I struggle so very much with yelling and being angry with my children and my husband. Usually, it is over things that are not important. Mountains out of molehills. So this year, I decided to fight against it. I have read other books about anger, including "The Orange Rhino," and studies on Bible verses that speak of anger and patience. I started to read "Anger: taming a powerful emotion" by Gary Chapman because the author is someone that I have grown to trust through his other publications (The 5 Love Languages). I don't know if you are a yeller or if you struggle with anger (passive-aggressive is also anger), but I will say that this book has helped me so greatly. I will say it is a divine intervention for me. image via amazon.com Chapman introduces his book with a reminder in t...

I read "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman about 10 years ago, freshly married and wanting to love my spouse well. It helped me to know my primary love language (words of affirmation) and his (physical touch). That truly has helped our marriage this past decade. image via amazon.com When I had children "The Five Love Languages for Children" by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell , I was hoping to end the book with knowing their love languages. I know I won't have that knowledge for my 16 month old for quite some time but for my 7 and 9 year olds, yes. The most unfortunate part of this book is that there is no finite way to find out their love languages. The book recommends observation and experimentation (trying one language for several weeks, then another for other week) to determine love languages. I'm not saying these are not valid ways to find the primary love languages of your children (in fact, through observation and talking with my husband h...

I really like to talk. It can alleviate awkwardness, draw people closer, find common ground. However much I like to talk, I'm not great at starting a conversation or holding one on my own. Therefore, I appreciate books like "101 Conversation Starters for Families" by Gary Chapman and Ramon Presson . image via amazon.com I've tried to use these questions at supper time when conversation beyond "how was your day" or highs/lows wanes. Which, at our house, is often, to be honest. We have one who is not much of a conversationalist most times and one who is more often than not pouting and one who is still learning the art of babbling. I really like questions that dig into people - who are they, what do they love. There are some of those questions in here and some other, fluffy ones that also can help look into one's being: - If you had a magic wand and could change anything in your life right now, what would it be? (our pouty guy actually said his bad...

After 7 years of marriage, I still don't know everything about Big A. Amazing, isn't it, how much we can know about someone but still they have so much to tell us. I thought I would gain some help with getting to know him more with " 101 Conversation Starters for Couples " by Gary Chapman and Ramon Presson. It's really been helpful to ask these questions to learn more about Big A. Some of the questions that we've discussed so far are: image via Amazon What are two things that happened today and how did you feel about them? He started off the day with no new emails and felt good about that; then work really picked up around 4:00 and a few people needed a few things at the same time so he was downhearted about that. If you could hire Martha Stewart for a day, what would you have her do? Buy our groceries with her money. What nonbiblical historical event would you like to have witnessed? No answer because I asked a really deep question too late at nigh...