The articles listed here are available for reprint, free of charge, in your
email newsletter and/or on your website, provided a byline and the following
"About the Author" box is included. (All of the articles listed here were
written by Susie Cortright.)
The Holidays:
Christmas Traditions: 25 Meaningful Ideas for Families
The holidays are a time to revel in the gratitude and love we feel for one
another. Here are 25 meaningful ways to celebrate your togetherness this season.
The Short List: Some Thoughts on Time
Is there a subject more charged than that of time, especially among parents?
It's the source of many of our conversations ("How are you?" "Busy!") and much
of our guilt. Here are some thoughts on taming our own perception of time.
Holiday Stress Management
Decking the halls and spreading good cheer takes a lot of energy. Here are some
tips to make sure you enjoy every last fa-la-la.
Christmas Gifts for Neighbors: 15 Ideas for Sweet and Simple Gifts
The more holiday cheer we can spread, the better, especially in our own
neighborhoods. Here are some ideas for simple, sweet, inexpensive gifts that are
just right.
Holiday Shopping Tips
I confess that holiday shopping once felt like an enormous, energy-draining
chore, and it was one that I dreaded all year long. Now I have found a way to
really enjoy it. Here are some tips to help you take pleasure in it, too.
Energize for a Happy Holiday Season: Four Tips for Moms
Decking the halls and spreading good cheer takes a lot of energy, and no one
knows that like a mom. Here are some tips to make sure you enjoy every last fa-la-la.
Momscape's Guide to a Stress-Less Holiday Season Let the stress of the
season melt away. Here's how...
A NEW New Year's Resolution
"This is the time of year when it's most difficult to stay on track with our
goals. It's also the time of year when we're all in a rush to make new ones..."
Tips on burying your "shoulds."
Seven Ways to Savor the Season I've made a few promises to help us prevent a
sense of entitlement while helping us savor and instill the true spirit of the
season. Perhaps it will help you, too.
Holiday Soul Snacks Soul Snacks are spontaneous time-outs: creative ways you
can nurture your spirit in 15 minutes or less. Here's a week's worth, specially
designed to help you balance the busy-ness this holiday season.
Essays/Inspiration
Finding Your Spirit in the Kitchen Sink A reminder that a mother's
self-nurturing rarely occurs at a day spa...
5 Ways to Cultivate Gratitude Gratitude keeps us centered and wards off
jealousy and negativity. Here are five little things we can do each day to
nourish our sense of gratitude.
Serenity Now! When I think about the energy I waste acting all frantic and
panicky, it makes me...well, frantic and panicky. Here are six tips to keep us
all from pushing the panic button.
True Romance for Couples With Kids Anyone can splurge on a formal dinner or
a pricey bottle of perfume, but it takes creativity, forethought, and time to be
truly romantic. The key lies in personalizing your celebration. Here are some
ideas to fuel your own creativity…
Rethinking Romance This Valentine's Day, let your man off the hook...
New!
15-Minute De-Frazzlers
Take some time to re-focus and reconnect with your family. It only takes a
moment...
The Simplicity of Simplifying Creating a simpler life can be surprisingly
simple. It starts with questioning those things we've taken as truths for so
long.
One Minute Wake-Ups
Tools for those times when we need to re-center, fast. Read them and add
your own...
Five Books that Can Change Your Life (Publishers: please feel free to change
the amazon links here to your own)
Plenty of Time Hurrying is antithetical to a pre-schooler's very nature. An
essay on revering their pace.
Filling the Empty Place "The instant I start feeling tired and sad, it's my
cue to do something completely new. To take all that energy that I've been
turning in on myself and turn it out into the world..."Susie on the Therapy of
Service.
"There's a Lollipop on Your Bottom" (and Other Terms of Endearment) "In all
of our efforts to prove our own Supermom skills, let's remember that it's
sometimes rather endearing when we're not..."
Revering the Crayon Marks Recapturing the magic that is motherhood.
Let it Begin With Us: An essay on strength, comfort, and healing "Last week,
I found grace. It was right there, alongside homemade brownies and a box of
Legos..."
Joy in Action: How to feel better about almost anything Discover joy in
action. Embody joy in action.
Daddies and Slippery Socks An essay on enthusiasm.
Reclaim Your Power The secret to sanity during early motherhood.
Getting by with a little help from our friends... "Some days, by 10 a.m.,
the girls and I have done two loads of clothes, seven diaper changes, and two
baths. We have fingerpainted, made playdough pizzas, read eleven books and
played six rounds of Hide and Seek. And by this time in the middle of the
morning, I'm already wondering how I'm going to fill the remaining eight hours
of my husband's workday..."
Embracing the Everyday Elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary everyday.
It's up to you!
Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude Gratitude keeps us centered and wards
off jealousy and negativity. Learn about the little things we can do each day to
nourish a sense of gratitude - in ourselves and in others.
How Moms Can Change the World Who better to change the world than a mother,
with her instinctive capacity for compassion, empathy, and unconditional love?
Here are a few ways - large and small - that we moms can make a difference in
our world.
Postures of Motherhood "For moms, self-discipline is not just about sticking
with something until it's done. It is the ability to stick with something, then
pry yourself away. To stick again briefly, then release. It is about knowing
when to hang in there, and when to surrender..."
Back to You Sit still for a moment and let your body (and soul) talk.
Put Down Your Newspaper All parents know what it’s like to say something and
know that no one heard you, even when you’re speaking to a full room. Even when
you get nods and murmurs in response...
Just for Today Some of the most enchanting days in a child's life are
created through conscious effort. A tribute to mothers everywhere.
Body Talk When we move our health and happiness to the forefront of our
focus, our spirits soar, and we create footsteps we want our children to follow.
Silence is Golden We all need a few quiet moments to reflect, think,
contemplate, pray, or just stare into space.
Enjoy Your Time Trade your frenzied pace for one of serenity, peace, and
pure productivity.
A Mother's Epiphany "I would like us all to remind one another how much our
babies need us—no matter how tall they have grown. So during those inevitable
days they spend attached to your left leg, or drawing on the wallpaper, or
spending time in the principal’s office, we will reflect on the day of their
birth, when two new spirits entered the world: a child and a mother."
A Zone of Your Own "Present moment awareness--the bliss of finding joy in
work and play--is something I experience occasionally, perhaps when I’m on a
roll with a project or on the last few pages of a juicy paperback. Even
sometimes when I have my hands in sudsy dishwater. It can come anytime, under
one condition: Everyone else has to be asleep..."
Serenity Now! When I think about the energy I waste acting all frantic and
panicky, it makes me...well, frantic and panicky. Here are six tips to keep us
all from pushing the panic button.
The Hub of the Wheel
Keep your family rolling...through everything!
"Thank You": Grace and Gratitude in the Everyday The extraordinary
power of two simple words.
Toward Compassion: Understanding the Pressures on your husband We hear a lot
about Supermom. Now let's hear it for Superdad.
Health, Beauty, and Fitness
Breaking the Sugar Addiction: 16 Tips
Added sugar is in everything these days. Learn why too much sugar is bad, how
much is too much, and what you can do about it.
15 Quick Tips for People Who Don't Like to Exercise "We've all had days when
we don't have the energy to tie our athletic shoes, let alone bounce around in
them. But exercise can give a daily blast to your mind, body, and soul. Here are
fifteen quick tips to get you moving."
Learning to Love Your Body Learn how to build a better body image...
Helping Your Kids Build a Better Body Image What you can do to help
your kids love their bodies...
Quick Beauty Routines Taking care of yourself in the simplest ways can
help put the focus back on you. Shave minutes off your routine with our helpful
tips.
Friendship
Ten Secrets of Good Listeners What good listeners know - and you should,
too. Practical tips to help you develop your listening skills as well as links
to self-evaluations.
How to Be a Better Friend Being a friend isn't just something that we do.
It's a skill that we can learn and improve upon. Here, eight ways to be a better
friend.
Love, Sex, and Marriage
The Health Benefits of Sex
We often think that something that feels this good can't be good for us. Now
it's time to think again...
Rekindling the Romance It's a fact of life: Intimacy becomes more difficult
when you become a parent. Here are some tips to keep that fire burning...
Spicing it Up: Tips for the Ultimate Intimate Dinner Here are some
tips for taking advantage of your rare one-on-one time by hosting an intimate
evening that you’ll both remember…all the way until next time.
Toward Compassion: Understanding the Pressures on your Husband We hear a lot
about Supermom. Now let's hear it for Superdad.
Motherhood and Parenting
See also inspiration/essays
The Short List: Some Thoughts on Time
Is there a subject more charged than that of time, especially among parents?
It's the source of many of our conversations ("How are you?" "Busy!") and much
of our guilt. Here are some thoughts on taming our own perception of time.
Finding Your Spirit in the Kitchen Sink A reminder that a mother's
self-nurturing rarely occurs at a day spa...
One Minute Wake-Ups
Tools for those times when we need to re-center, fast. Read them and add
your own...
The Hub of the Wheel
Keep your family rolling through anything!
Desperately Seeking Support A support network of other mothers can help you
share ideas, vent frustration, and compare notes. Learn how to build a support
network of your own.
Escaping the Guilt Trap Mothers know all about guilt. Here are a few tips
for identifying the guilt that is only dragging you down...and what to do about
it.
Help for Chronic Worriers Does excessive worry eat away at you? Learn what
sort of worry can help you, and what can only make life more difficult.
Then, find out what to do about it.
Weighing the Costs of a Career The old adage is true: It takes money
to make money. Maybe more than you think. Find out if going to work each day is
costing you.
How to Make One Income Stretch Twice as Far If you stay at home with
your children, part of your job might be to stretch those two ends until they
meet. Here are some time-tested tricks to help you do just that.
Applause for Stay-at-Home Moms We have seen a lot of articles
applauding mothers who go to work each day. Rarely do we see an article that
celebrates those who stay-at-home. Here are just a few of the reminders of the
fact that your selflessness and sacrifices make a difference.
Full Circle: The Evolution of Mother-Child Relationships How have your
relationships changed since you had children? Here, we examine these
relationships...and applaud the mothers who taught us how to do the most
important job in the world.
Family Management
Time Management for Moms
All moms have an office that never closes and an inbox that never empties,
whether we work outside the home or not. This daily grind can put us all on the
fast track to burnout. Here are some time management tips especially for moms.
How to Make One Income Stretch Twice as Far If you stay at home with
your children, part of your job might be to stretch those two ends until they
meet. Here are some time-tested tricks to help you do just that.
Working from Home
How to Avoid Home Business Scams
Many of us would love nothing more than to make money and stay at home. That's
why we're sometimes tempted by those less-than-reputable (and less-than-ethical)
companies that rely on spam to get the word out. Here's a guide to weeding out
the scams.
Tips on Working at Home with Kids You’re one of the lucky ones.
You have managed the best of both worlds by choosing to stay at home with your
children while still advancing in your career. Here are some tips on making it
work.
Nurturing Your Spirit
Nine Simple Stress-Busters for Moms Tips for creating what every mom needs:
more energy, more balance, more time, and less stress.
Journaling: A Tool for the Spirit The fountain of personal wisdom may be as
close as your nearest pen. That’s because the single most essential instrument
for nurturing your spirit is a personal journal. Learn how to make your spirit
soar...through words.
"Thank You": Grace and Gratitude in the Everyday The extraordinary
power of two simple words.
Serenity Now! When I think about the energy I waste acting all frantic and
panicky, it makes me...well, frantic and panicky. Here are six tips to keep us
all from pushing the panic button.
Escaping the Guilt Trap Mothers know all about guilt. Here are a few tips
for identifying the guilt that is only dragging you down...and what to do about
it.
Help for Chronic Worriers Does excessive worry eat away at you? Learn what
sort of worry can help you, and what can only make life more difficult.
Then, find out what to do about it.
Soul Snacks
Family Soul Snacks 15-minute defrazzlers for families.
Summertime Soul Snacks Nurture your spirit and savor the summertime with
these warm weather pampering tips.
Holiday Soul Snacks Soul Snacks are spontaneous time-outs: creative ways you
can nurture your spirit in 15 minutes or less. Here's a week's worth, specially
designed
to help you balance the busy-ness this holiday season.
January Soul Snacks Soul Snacks are spontaneous time-outs: creative ways you
can nurture your spirit in 15 minutes or less. Here's a week's worth, specially
designed to help you infuse this cold season with joy and warmth.