“The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children.”   ~Charlotte Mason Dear Mom of young children, Do you realize the incredible power you have […]

In life, we could just put one foot in front of the other and “make it”. OR, we can live intentionally and really engage in the adventure of sanctification God has laid out for us. This is true of all areas of life, but it’s definitely true for married life. Here are some ways that […]

Here’s a 4-minute video I made with my 3- and 5-year-olds to share some ideas of specific ways to get down in the floor and play with your preschoolers. IN THE COMMENTS, SHARE: Do you do wrestling play like this with your little people? Any other ideas along these lines that you’d like to share?

It’s hard to discern sometimes, isn’t it? Especially the first time we face these things as a mom! Did he really hear me? Does she really understand what I’m asking? How can I know what I should/shouldn’t expect. When do our children know enough to start obeying us? For us, obedience starts long before they’re speaking, and […]

Here’s a 3-minute video I made, smack-dab in the middle of my real life, to talk about the noise and chaos of real-life motherhood. IN THE COMMENTS, PLEASE SHARE: Has motherhood been more, or less, noisy and chaotic, than you expected?

Are you exhausted? Feeling like it’s just too hard to keep going with your homeschool plans? Ready to throw in the towel? Be encouraged, mama! February is a really, really common exhaustion point. Last month was the beginning of my 10th year of homeschooling. Back in the beginning of my homeschooling years, I lived overseas and didn’t have real-life examples […]

Weak. It’s not what we want to be. It’s far more glamorous to be strong. Able. Buff. Ripped. Cut. Well-off. Certain. Capable. Adept. Fierce.  No one enjoys being the needy one. The one asking for things. The one with nothing to contribute.  There’s ease in being the one with enough margin, enough wisdom, enough financial […]

There’s a common response I receive from younger moms, after they hear/read my no-nonsense advice about tantrums, attitudes, and arguing. “I bet you haven’t actually had a strong-willed child.” “I don’t think this will work; maybe my kids are more strong-willed than yours.” “You have a lot of kids, but have any of them been […]

{Today’s post is a follow-up from Monday’s– Christian Wife, Let Your Husband Be.— where a reader asked, “Beyond having a joyful attitude towards love making and keeping the home a happy sanctuary for him, what are more specifics things wives can do? I know every husband will have different things that are life-giving to him, […]

Lately I’ve talked with some friends who are hurting. I should say, who are *also* hurting. From my tiredness, feeling like a towel that has been wrung, all I feel is twisted and dry. I feel very cautious about saying anything about the hurt.  Though poets and celebrated authors have received acclaim and income from […]

Like parenting in general, it helps me when I think about homeschooling in terms of seasons. Each season has its own unique joys, its own unique challenges, and each is discernibly different from the one before. HOMESCHOOLING BEGAN LIKE SPRING Was it that way for you? (It’s not that way for everyone, so don’t feel bad […]

Today I’m starting a new video series, where I’ll share “3 Things I Wish I’d Known” about various topics and life experiences. Many will be about life as a wife and mother, but this first one is “3 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Started Blogging.” I’ve been blogging since the summer of 2006, and started blogging here (at jessconnell.com) […]

Today I want to ask you something: Have you been waiting for the elusive “zap?” What I mean by that is: Are you waiting for something to happen TO you in one of these areas: Is your child throwing tantrums and out of control? Are you in a marriage slump? Is your house a wreck? Are you […]

Burnout can come to any of us. Sometimes it comes because we’re in a high-stress season, and sometimes it comes because we’ve over-committed. There are times, though, when burnout comes because we have not treated ourselves as human beings worthy of care. Whether because we’ve been a “mommy martyr” or because in the busyness of life, […]