Coupons for Kids!

I love how these motivational coupons for kids turned out and I think you and your kids will too! If you’re like me than you’re probably running out of ways to motivate your kids… And if you’re not, than please just lie to me.

Alright, it’s time for a little honesty here. I’ve been losing it a little lately. Okay, I’ve been losing it a lot. We’re 3 weeks into our “quarantine” and I’ve come a long way from feeling like “this is the best thing that could ever happen to your family”. To put it nicely, s#!% is hitting the fan. I’ve got 4 kids all spread 5 years apart and the crying and the whining and the fighting and the snacks (my gosh the snacks) are sending me over the edge. I no longer enjoy living in my cracker barrel t-shirt and I just finished Netflix. Things that never used to irritate me are like nails on a chalkboard and if I hear my 6 year old scream like a baby one more time I might seriously lose my mind.

Things are stressing me out on the home front right now and I KNOW I need to take the reigns. I saw myself in a Facetime video the other day and legit almost had a heart attack. I knew it was bad but if you ever need some motivation to stop with the snacks just give yourself a call.

Needless to say I need to get control here. I need to take a minute, regather my thoughts, and get everyone on the same page. One thing I have learned in life is that when mom falls apart, everyone else falls apart with her. It just happens. I don’t know why, but moms are the glue that holds everything and everyone together and when she starts to crack, things begin to break down. That’s not to discredit dads, because they are amazing and strong and equally as important, but I think we can all agree that moms just have a way of holding everything in place.

Pull it together

So I’m pulling it together and ditching the Cracker Barrel t-shirt ( not forever though). I painted my nails, and finally put a flat iron to my unruly hair. Although I may not have anywhere to go,  I can tell you it helped a lot. I put on some worship music, journaled my thoughts. I tried to figure out how I was going to make it through the next couple of months. And I quickly realized that I just needed to take a chill pill, and maybe you do too.

Listen, maybe you’re fine and you have everything under control, amazing. But if your stressing like me, let me just say, we don’t need to have all the answers. We don’t need to have a million groceries, our homes don’t need to be spotless, and no one expects our “classrooms” to be perfectly organized and decorated accordingly.

At the end of the day none of us saw this coming. Self isolating and homeschooling my kids was not on the calendar and we didn’t plan for any of it. There are no “how to survive a pandemic and homeschool your kids while working remotely” books on Amazon and we just don’t have all the answers. That’s okay! We all just need to remember to give ourselves some grace.

So, I’m taking a chill pill and trying my best to stay positive. My kids need me to and I need me too, and I’m letting go of the ridiculous standards that I somehow put on myself and taking it one day at a time.

Our kids need a win

My friend Meaghan Dawson recently wrote an article for the Grit and Grace Project that really stuck with me. It was titled “Moms, you know when your kids need a win.” And while it’s not the exact same scenario here, the concept is the same. Our kids need a win. They have been through an enormous change and it’s easy to get so caught up in our own stress and uncertainty that we forget to take a minute and remember that their world has been tossed upside down too. That they are also dealing with loss and confusion.

That’s why these free printable motivational coupons for kids are so great. It’s an easy way to remind them that we’re paying attention and that we recognize the hard work they are doing.  They are a fun way to encourage quality family time together and I know your kids are going to love them.

These coupons for kids are going to bring some much needed fun into your home and I’ve chosen activities that are perfect for “self isolating.” Of course they can be used anytime though!

Some activities include

• Get out of a chore
• Stay up 30 minutes past bedtime
• Dinner and dessert of your choice
• 1 hour of 1 on 1 time with mom or dad
• 30 minutes of extra screen time
• Family movie night of your choice
• Backyard Picnic
• Choosing an item to add to the grocery list

These are just to name a few. You can print the coupons on cardstock which is my preferred method (so they last longer), or you can print them out on regular paper and glue them onto colorful construction paper for even more fun! Or if you’re not trying to make more work for yourself just print them as is.

You can either hand them out strategically (let’s be honest, we might not be in the mood for some of them) or you can put them in a jar and have your child pick one. Either way your kids will love them almost as much as they will love cashing them in!

Free printable coupons for kids!

Download (PDF, Unknown)

Download (PDF, Unknown)

I’ll be updating the post with new coupons periodically so stay tuned for that and if you have any ideas for new ones that your kids would love let me know in the comments below!

Need a little dinner inspiration or some fun recipes to make with the kids?

Check these out!

Mexican Lasagna 

Cookie Dots: A baking and learning adventure to enjoy while staying at home 

Easy Crunchy Tortilla Pizzas

The post Free Motivational Coupons For Kids appeared first on The Good Wives Blog.

Yesterday I had to ditch being my regular cool mom self (again), in exchange for being a jerk.  Okay maybe not a jerk, but a “mean mom” for sure. And if you ever plan on having a teenager, and you care even the slightest bit about how you raise them, then I promise you, that unless you compromise, you will too. It’s inevitable. We’ve all been there and if you haven’t yet, you will.

Not long from now those cute morning snuggles and tiny little hands in yours will be replaced with academy award winning eye rolls, long dramatic sighs, and bedroom doors slamming so hard the trim will literally shake. I don’t care if you’re Dr. Phil himself. It’s going to happen. Just you wait.

And when it does, I want you to remember these words. Hang on for the ride. If I can give you any advice at all, it would be just that. Hang on.

I remember sitting at a friend’s kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee one morning, as I unloaded on her all the stress and anxiety that came from having a teenager at home. “How did you do it?” I cried. “How did you make it to the other side?” Her kids were well equipped for the world. They were making good choices and were successful upstanding members of society. I had to know her secret. I was expecting a long and detailed list of book worthy, Harvard studied facts that I had never thought of. Dang, why didn’t I bring a notebook. But what came next was one of the simplest yet most powerful things I have ever heard. “Just hang on for the ride” she said. “Hang on for the ride and don’t compromise.” Wow. Wiser words have never been spoken. As a mom of a soon to be 18-year-old I can honestly say it’s the best advice I have ever been given, and if I can leave you with only one thing when it comes to raising teenagers it would be this. Don’t compromise and just hang on for the ride.

And there it is. Compromise. What does that even mean?

Don’t compromise.

You might not have thought about it before, especially if you have little ones at home, but there is going to come a day when they won’t just do as you say. Not that they really do that now, but you know what I mean. Their friends won’t be your friend’s kids. Their activities won’t be the ones you choose for them. And their opinions on things may leave you wondering where you ever went wrong in life. Your sweet little child will be replaced with an angry hormonal teenager and they will have questions and thoughts, and need a whole lot of understanding. Not long from now they will form their own ideas and make choices that you might not always agree with. And trust me, that part is hard. Allowing them to grow and to be independent while still maintaining values and not compromising is hard.

Especially when we live in an age of society where everything and anything is okay.

Yesterday I was faced with it firsthand. My almost 13-year-old son had come home from school excited to tell me that he and his classmates had made plans to go see a movie. Which by the way warms my heart so much.  I can still remember making plans to go to Famous Players on $2 Tuesdays to see Titanic for the 15^th time and praying that Ricky Little would sit next to me. And yes, that was his real name.

Anyway, I was all on board with it until I heard that they were going to see Invisible Man. I had no idea what this movie was about, but I could tell by the way he was asking that I needed to find out more. Long story short, it’s an R rated film that he had absolutely no business watching. That didn’t make it any easier though. He was looking forward to going and I had to be the one to tell him no, and potentially embarrass him in front of his friends. Cue mom guilt now.

Okay, maybe you’re sitting there thinking that I’m over reacting and you’re totally cool with your kids watching R rated movies. That’s fine. You do you. I’m not here to judge.  All I can do is follow my own heart and it’s convictions, and my heart tells me that life is hard and scary enough for kids, and that I need to protect their innocence as long as I can. I don’t want to take part in filling my child’s head with graphic images and terrible circumstances. The world will do that all on it’s own. And so, the fight ensued.

“But why mom!” he protested. “Everyone else is going. You don’t understand” he exclaimed. Not realizing that I understood full well. “I’m not going to be scared. It’s just a stupid movie, and I’m not a baby anymore. Why do you always have to be like this” he said.

Okay Pause.

In this moment I could’ve chosen a few different scenarios.  I could’ve gotten emotionally invested in the conversation and started to argue with him. It wouldn’t be the first time I had gotten sucked into an argument with my kids and went off the deep end. Doesn’t he know I’m only trying to protect him! Cue big fight now.

I could have laid down the law point blank and dropped the old “because I said so and that’s that.” line, which by the way is the WORST possible thing you can say to a teenager (more on that another day).

OR

I could have just caved a.k.a compromised my values and let him see it. Everyone else was going. Maybe I was overreacting? If other parents think it’s okay for their kids to watch maybe it’s okay for mine? He was really looking forward to it. Maybe it’s not that bad…

But I didn’t.

In fact. I didn’t really choose any of those options. Instead I chose to pull it up on Focus on the Families, Plugged in Movie Review (which by the way is an AMAZING resource) and walk him through all the elements of the movie that did not sit well with me. I needed him to understand why I was making the decision that I was. And that there was a reason I was making this decision, even if he didn’t agree with me. Teenagers need that. They won’t say it but they do.

Teenagers need to understand and be part of the process, and not including a conversation about why you’re doing the things you’re doing can lead to a serious break down in the relationship. A wise man once said “rules without relationship equals rebellion.” and he was spot on. Not to mention you’d be missing out on an amazing teaching opportunity.

I fully believe that although kids say they don’t agree with us. Deep down inside they crave that kind of love from us. The kind of love that sets boundaries for them and that says I love you enough to make the tough decisions for you.  I love you enough to stand on my convictions and hang on for the ride. Yes they kick and scream. Yes they will tell you the world is ending. But at the end of the day if we don’t let them do stupid things now, they will thank us later. If we can just hang on for the ride.

In the end the group decided to see a movie that everyone was allowed to watch, and I was quickly back to being the cool mom when I agreed to drive them all to the theater.

I don’t know what your convictions are and I don’t know what’s important to you, but I do want to challenge you to take a minute and think about it. And then to stand strong and hang on for the ride. What values do you want to instill in your children? The big important stuff you want them to remember when their sitting in a dorm room 100 miles away? Those are things you cannot compromise. Those are the things you need to hang on to the next time the door slams in your face or the eyes roll to the back of their head. The next time your heart hurts and you feel like caving in just remember that those that went before us are on the other side. That if we can love our kids enough to be a consistent pillar of strength while they figure it all out they will thank us. There is a light at the end of a strange and hormonal tunnel and that if you can just hang on for the ride I promise you it will all be worth it.

Laila

The post Hang On For The Ride (Surviving The Teen Years Without Compromising) appeared first on The Good Wives Blog.

What Happened When This Mom Stopped Doing All The Things – Another honest experience on raising my kids.

What does mothering our kids actually look like? Is it running around trying to do everything for our kids and trying to minimize their workload? Is it picking up after them, doing all their laundry, and making sure they never feel any discomfort at all? What happened When This Mom Stopped Doing All The Things is something I recently wrote for The Grit and Grace Project and I would LOVE for you to check it out. If you’ve never heard of The Grit and Grace Project trust me you’re going to LOVE IT! CLICK HERE! 

Mothering is hard  like watching a season finale of Grey’s Anatomy hard and after four kids I’m still trying to navigate the waters. As moms we all know that doing things ourselves is JUST EASIER! But one day I started thinking… Easier for who?

Teaching my kids responsibility can sometimes feel like the worst chore and the struggle is real. But I’m learning that just because it’s hard it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do. If you’re a mom or plan on being one, then you’ll want to check this one out.

“Ryan! You need to unload the dishwasher!” I could seriously feel my patience slipping away as I yelled upstairs to my 12-year-old son (for the 17th time today). It was already one of those days, and it really wouldn’t take much more to push me over the edge. “I should just do it myself,” I thought, tempted to lose the battle and try again tomorrow. The last thing I wanted was a fight. But then again, his future wife wouldn’t thank me…..

Read More on What Happened When This Mom Stopped Doing All The Things 

Need a little more inspiration? Check out Dear Mama, Don’t Forget to Dream or SOS

The post What Happened When This Mom Stopped Doing All The Things appeared first on The Good Wives Blog.

Hey Ya’ll. I’m back on this  Grit and Grace Life this month and I have to say, I am excited about this one. When you don’t feel #blessed as mom is something I wrote because let’s be real, as moms there are way to many days we feel like we’re not so #blessed. THAT’S OKAY!!!  It’s all OKAY! And I think we need to talk more about it!

Have you ever had those days where you feel like everything is working out? You slept well the night before. You woke up before your kids and actually got a hot cup of coffee down. Your hair falls exactly the right way and your favorite cracker barrel t-shirt is wearing just right (okay, that last one might be all me). But it’s amazing, right? I know those days are few and far between but aren’t they glorious? Of course they are! Those are the type of days when people without kids start to fantasize about what it would be like, saying things like, “Wouldn’t it be nice to start a family? Let’s have one boy and one girl, exactly 18 months apart so they always have a friend. It will be so nice and so perfect and we will be #blessed.” Bless their hearts, but they really have no idea what they are in for.

Anyone who has a child knows that most days are hard. Like watching a season finale of Grey’s Anatomy hard, and there is no sugar coating it ever. The truth is that although social media doesn’t show it, 95% of the time you won’t feel #blessed at all. In fact, you’ll probably feel #haventshoweredindays or #cantgetmycraptogether or maybe even #isitwinetimeyet. And guess what, that’s okay because I’ve come to realize that we’re not supposed to.

Read The Full Story Here

Watch it here!

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