One of the things that I’m blessed to do at work is teach a class called Understanding the Dynamics of Poverty. The class is aimed at educating about the causes and effects of both situational and generational poverty. In the class, one of the things we discuss is that people who live in poverty oftenContinue reading “With A Little Help From My Friends”
Tag Archives: Bonus Mom
Family Updates
Dear Dedicated Readers, after almost a year, I think it’s time to begin writing again. I’d thought my days of blogging were done, but I’ve been feeling the call again so here we are. A lot has changed over the past year, too much to fit into one post for sure so for now we’llContinue reading “Family Updates”
It Takes A Village…
I’ve always heard the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” and automatically assumed that translated into directly helping to raise the children. I wasn’t wrong, but I missed part of the value of a village as well. You see, I’ve been struggling lately. Work is amazing, my Husband is doing much better,Continue reading “It Takes A Village…”
Making Progress
Soooo it’s been a month since I’ve blogged.Please, Dear Mom Van followers, forgive my absence. My hectic life and mental health dictated my silence. Honestly, I haven’t even tried to write anything. I needed the space to try and breathe. I’ve been trying to create a better space for myself at home and a healthierContinue reading “Making Progress”
Team Barnes vs. The Grocery Store
Yesterday I faced one of my parenting fears: going big grocery shopping with all four kids. Not only was it big grocery shopping, it was Thanksgiving grocery shopping. The biggest of big. We literally needed something from every aisle. I’ve been to the store with all four before, but it was only ever to pickContinue reading “Team Barnes vs. The Grocery Store”
Why I Share My Story
My two year blogging anniversary is rapidly approaching. It’s hard to believe that it’s been this long. I talked about writing a blog forever but it took a long time to muster up the courage to do it. We’ve come a long way since that first post. You can read it here. My second postContinue reading “Why I Share My Story”
Self Quarantine Day 59: My Pawpaw
I woke up yesterday with a heaviness in my heart. It didn’t take long to realize that it was the four year anniversary of the last time I saw my Pawpaw. It is a memory that’s like a Polaroid. Crystal clear in spots but fuzzy round the edges. He was tired and weak but happy.Continue reading “Self Quarantine Day 59: My Pawpaw”
You’re A Good Mom
Motherhood is weird. It doesn’t look like what I thought it would most of the time. I didn’t expect perfection of my children. I’m too much of a free range parent for that. I knew they’d be a little weird and sometimes look a mess. I knew my house would be a wreck because I’mContinue reading “You’re A Good Mom”
Self Quarantine Day 40: Best Birthday Ever!
I never in a million years thought that I’d be celebrating my birthday during a pandemic. If you’d told me before Friday that this was going to be my best birthday ever I would have laughed at you and called you an idiot. Sometimes it’s nice to be wrong. My birthday celebrations started off FridayContinue reading “Self Quarantine Day 40: Best Birthday Ever!”
Self Quarantine Day 36: Who We Are
I’ve gotten a lot of new followers here on the blog in the past month and The Hubs revamped my site so I thought it would be a good idea to introduce our tribe again. For you long time readers, you’ll get all up to date on us too. Our family is a little wackyContinue reading “Self Quarantine Day 36: Who We Are”
Mom Van Confessions 