Girls Gone Social: the struggle is real.
Friend: “Where’s your new house exactly?” Me: “It’s just right off of…uh…that one road….uh….{yells across the room} HEY TAYLOR – WHERE DO WE LIVE AGAIN?” This is the mental capacity I’m working with these days. Moment of silence for the moms of daughters I get to chat with tonight about social media. I fear it’s going to be rough for them. But since I do get to chat with them, I’ve been pondering what to share. I love talking to parents about social media, but I really love talking to parents of daughters. Girls have a unique set of struggles online. As of this moment on January 9th, 2014, here…
Why We Left Church in College
Gen Y’s and church. It’s all the rage. My mom called the other day and asked if I stopped attending church in college for any length of time and why. I did, as did my brother. (Two preacher’s kid, mind you.) And my husband. And a lot of my friends. But I couldn’t really pinpoint the why. Part of it was because we went to a Christian university that had chapel every single day and Bible classes most days. That’s a lot of textbook Jesus. By the time Sunday rolled around, honestly, we were tired of hearing about it all. It was another lecture in less comfortable seats. But, regardless…
A Coffee Date Chat: Social Media Mindset Differences
I just thought you all should see my favorite 7th graders in the world. Completely irrelevant to this post. I’ve picked up on a few recurring trends when talking with parents (and youth workers and teachers) of pre-teens/teens about social media recently… I hear a lot of fear and uncertainty. I see a lot of deer-in-the-headlight, overwhelmed looks. And I understand. The world wide interwebs are big and scary and kidnappy. But if there’s one thing I think (or rather, hope) I might help you with, it is understanding your kids’ mindsets. They’re speaking a language you’re trying to understand and that’s scary. Or at the very least annoying. This is no…
A Word to my Friends about Ask.fm
{For my junior high and high school peeps. Do people still say peeps? I’m pretty sure they don’t. My apologies.} Hey, friends. I know you aren’t big blog readers, but I’ve been wanting to chat with you about something for a while now. If you’ll indulge me, let’s chat real quick about: You know…the thing where you love to ask each other (mostly) anonymous questions. I know you know about it because this is all I ever see in my Instagram newsfeed. And I totally get it. Don’t panic. I’m not here to get you in trouble – I even have one (…even though no one has ever asked me…
NOLA! (Alt Title: Beignets are made by angels.)
This past week, Taylor started a new job and had a birthday. I also had a birthday and made a quick trip to Louisiana that included a stop by Café Du Monde. So, basically, it was the best week ever. Several months ago, a lady named Jenny read my post to parents about Instagram and contacted me about speaking at her teen girl event just outside of New Orleans. This is important for a few reasons: a) I could have been the single most awkward person she’d ever met in her life. She’d only read my post, never met me; therefore b) God used her to get my attention in a “HELLO.…
On the past 3 months of crazy.
“Hey I saw you were speaking different places now…what is that about? Apparently I don’t even know what you do for a living.” Funny you should ask. I don’t either. For the past year or so, I’ve really been struggling with finding purpose. Being a mom (and a stay-at-home one, at that) is harder than I imagined in ways I didn’t anticipate. You go from people doting on your big ole baby belly, then on your newborn, then on your infant…aaaand then at some point that kinda wears off. Pretty soon you’re alone at Chick-fil-a with a screamy toddler who just spiked his water cup on the floor in protest,…
IHOP, Potty Tunes, & HowYOOs
This week was so fabulous. I weaseled my way into being a driver for one of my all-time favorite teenager’s midnight surprise birthday party at IHOP, took Beckett to his first toddler water park wonderland, and found a real treasure of a potty training song book that I’ll share with you in a moment. IHOP, at midnight, with this girl is time well spent. HowYOO? So, 99% of what toddlers say and do is simply a reflection of what you say and do, right? Right. Which is why some of Beckett’s behavior, while very cute, is a little hurtful. He’s currently in a stage where he likes to carry on…
12 Seconds of Peace & Sleepoverrrr
“Ok, time to say bye bye.” is top 3 worst sentences a mom can say to a toddler. It pretty much never goes well. Like, today, for instance, when Beckett noodle-legged in the middle of the Starbucks parking lot as a car waited for us to cross. I drug his lifeless body by one arm the remaining 15 feet to the car. The driver of the other car thought it was hilarious. It was in that moment, after I’d wrangled a tantruming toddler into his car seat and heard those two glorious clicks of the buckles, that I found my piece of heaven: the walk from the back right door…
Parents: A Follow up Word on Instagram
This is an update to my previous post, Parents: A Word about Instagram. I originally shared this post with my friends over yonder at Patheos. They have a pretty cool site that you should check out. But, now that you’re here, feel free to stick around and see what parents and teens had to say about identity and Instagram. Um. Wow. I had NO idea the last post would hit such a nerve, but I’m so thankful some very important conversations have stemmed from it! Thank you for all of your feedback, comments, suggestions, and shares. It’s humbling, to say the least. A few things: One resounding comment I heard…
Parents: A Word about Instagram
To the parents of middle-schoolers on Instagram: There is so much information out there about internet safety and you should definitely read up on that, but that’s not what I want to talk about. Over the past several months, I’ve been noticing some interesting stuff on Instagram from your kids that I want to share with you.
