NEW YEAR: The Resolution of Resolutions!
New Year's Resolutions? Those things we list enthusiastically for ourselves every year: Exercise every day Lose weight Read 20 books Be more organised Meal plan Get to bed on time Be more...
Pre-Christmas Toy tidy
Christmas Day with young children usually means a LOT more toys to add to the collection. In our case, we didn't buy our children toys throughout the year, but saved up to...
Can the words “Rest” and “Christmas” even go together?
Yes They can! Choose rest this Christmas, and cultivate more JOY. There is no need for me to describe what many of us experience in the Christmas season - a lot of...
They can’t read your mind!
Become a better communicator In my post https://therefinedmother.com/overcome-overwhelm-the-first-step/, I mentioned some areas we can look at to help overcome the overwhelmed feeling we so often have as wives and mothers. One of...
TEACH your child to be a great FRIEND
Part 5 in the Friendship series The importance of childhood friendship I had a very best friend all through my childhood. We did everything together and are still friends today. I realised...
Encouraging the Good (not nice!) guy
Listen to the podcast on this topic here My observations I always knew I wanted a good marriage. I hadn't had the greatest example, growing up. And so I became an astute...
A Gem from Grandma #10
Raising teenagers in a changing world - Part 3 Just a few more ideas to complete my thoughts on raising teenagers which I’ll cover briefly. 1. Focus on being a parent and...
A Gem from Grandma #9
Raising Teenagers in a changing world - Part 2 Communication In this Gem I want to focus on on listening and keeping communication lines open with your teenager. As I have said...
A Gem From Grandma #8
BRINGING UP TEENAGERS IN A CHANGING WORLD - Part 1. A lot has changed since our three sons were teenagers. They didn’t have access to the internet, their own computers, laptops, or...
EXPERIENCING GOD’S LOVE AND CARE IN THE MIDST OF A BUSY LIFE
I’d like to share one of my favourite photos from my early days of motherhood. I just love this photo—the love and awe on the faces of my two older sons as...
A Gem from Grandma #6
The family that prays together stays together In my recent Gems I’ve been sharing some ideas on training our children in response to the Proverb: Train up a child in the way he should...
A Gem from Grandma #5
Training your children in DECISION MAKING How often have you thought about training your child/children to make wise decisions? I remember a little Gem that a fellow young mum passed on to...
A Gem from Grandma #4
The importance of Godly discipline “I’ll be good Daddy; I’ll be good!” I still remember the solemness of the service in a small country church being interrupted by my brother repeating the above...
A Gem from Grandma #3
Training our Children My gem this month is taken from the book of Proverbs. These proverbs were written by King Solomon who was noted for his wisdom. They are written from his...
A Gem from Grandma #2
Marriage: The greatest gift a parent can give to his/her children is to love their spouse. I love having deep and meaningful conversations individually with my sons, each of whom are now...