$2 and a Handmade Card – How They Got Me Through
When reality hits that a relationship has died, the pain is devastating; the shock is real. Especially after you’ve invested heart and...
Search
Valerie Bryant
- Aug 15
- 5 min
Mama – Are You Praying with your Eyes Open?
Do either of these prayers sound familiar? “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep . . . Amen!” “God is great. ...
Valerie Bryant
- Jan 2
- 7 min
Mama, Mama - Stop the Crying
We’ve spent these past few years under siege - Covid siege. If there were ever a song to define these recent past years, it would have...
Valerie Bryant
- Jun 7, 2020
- 4 min
Roll Up Your Sleeves - Straighten a Sister's Crown
As an African American (Black) child growing up in a south-side Chicago ghetto, I was there on the night Chicago burned behind the assassina
Valerie Bryant
- Jul 10, 2019
- 4 min
A New GPS that Gets Parents Past the Negatives
I wish I could tell you how often I have celebrated both pregnancy and birth announcements with couples. As a childbirth instructor, I ...
Valerie Bryant
- May 16, 2019
- 4 min
When Life Makes Your Family Take an “L”
When the world is so intent on labeling you as "winner" or "loser", a better mindset is to redefine that loser "L" to mean "Learn".
Valerie Bryant
- Apr 22, 2019
- 2 min
5 Bad Parenting Knots to Avoid at All Costs
Most parents want to avoid promoting negative attitudes and outcomes within their homes. Having so many children under my roof has given...
Valerie Bryant
- Mar 23, 2019
- 6 min
4 WAYS TO GET PAST DREAD AS A MOM
Weeks like this past one are incredibly trying for me as a mom – and I bet they are for you, too! It’s when you responsibly line up...
Valerie Bryant
- Jan 18, 2019
- 5 min
When Mama Bear Growls - TUFF Mama and Most Unlikely Decisions
As Lee Greenwood’s song goes (with a twist): "From Detroit down to Houston; from New York to SA". I know - Lee Greenwood used "LA", but...
Valerie Bryant
- Jan 18, 2019
- 5 min
My Dad Took a Risk and it Validated Me
When I was a youngster in the first grade, I recalled classmates playing the “Truth or Dare” game – a diversion that never met my fancy....
Valerie Bryant
- Nov 29, 2018
- 5 min
3 Be-Attitudes of Good Parenting
I have been in the mothering trenches now in excess of 250K hours – over 30 years. That statement comes not as a bragging point, but as a...
Valerie Bryant
- Jun 22, 2018
- 4 min
2 Basics to “Save Face” When You “Lose Self” in Front of Your Child
Being a childbirth educator grants me the joy of seeing a couple welcome and embrace their new baby while it is yet in utero. Watching...
Valerie Bryant
- Mar 11, 2018
- 3 min
Use this One Easy Basketball Concept & Build a Winning Family Team
As a mom, I find myself regularly searching for new and credible ways to instill winning family concepts in my children. If your...
Valerie Bryant
- Feb 16, 2018
- 5 min
The ABC-123 of Being a Great Mom
When much material is written on how to care for a newborn, even more needs to be written on how to be an effective and wise mother. ...
Valerie Bryant
- Feb 3, 2018
- 4 min
6 Ways to Tighten the Grandparent Bond
Take a moment to imagine how interesting it would have been to live during the time prior to Noah’s flood. This was a period when people...
Valerie Bryant
- Jan 17, 2018
- 3 min
6 Tips to Warm Up Your Place Called "Home"
In The Wiz (a 1978 remake of The Wizard of Oz), lead character Dorothy (Diana Ross) sings these end tune words, expressing her longing to...
Valerie Bryant
- Jan 11, 2018
- 7 min
7 Special Gifts a Father Should BE for His Children - a Tribute to My Dad
A latchkey kid in a Chicago ghetto, I would have known no better life had it not been for my incredible parents. Together, they combined...
Valerie Bryant
- Jan 1, 2018
- 3 min
3 Tips for Moms to Enjoy Healthy Mother-Daughter Bonds
Life has a funny way of being complex. As a mom, it seems like everything is about always needing to figure something out. Issues ranging...
Valerie Bryant
- Dec 28, 2017
- 4 min
How to Bring Honor to Annoying Differences in Your Children (Part 3 of 3)
Parenting is tough as we daily wade through waters to magnify the good and extinguish the unsavory matters concerning our children. It...
Valerie Bryant
- Dec 22, 2017
- 3 min
How to Bring Honor to Annoying Differences in Your Children (Part 2 of 3)
Recall from the previous post that we, as parents, must be careful not to negate the good and tolerate the damage that even we can bring...