Bethany Vitaro - Honest yarns of faith and family
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Bethany Vitaro - Honest yarns of faith and family

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Share Four Somethings February 2025

Share Four Somethings February 2025

February 27, 2025
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31 Days of Cultivating a Generous Heart, 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes, Faith, Family, Parenting, Writing

Inspire Not Require: Being an Example of Generosity to My Kids

October 9, 2018 by Bethany 3 Comments

Generally, we all want to teach our children to be generous. It starts from the time they are young and…

31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes, 31 Days of Honest Reflections on Faith, Faith, Family, Five Minute Friday, Parenting, Writing

What Kind of Character Do I Want to Be?

October 6, 2017 by Bethany 5 Comments

Mostly I think my life is ordinary and boring. I’ve wiped a lot of noses, changed hundreds of diapers, done…

Parenting

Leaning In: The Discipline of Spending Regular Time With My Kids

August 28, 2017 by Bethany 1 Comment

  We had a tough week with our kids. There was the usual arguing and fighting plus and extra dose…

Faith, Family

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Celebrating Advent with My Kids

November 30, 2014 by Bethany No Comments

Last year I did a series of various ways to celebrate Advent. But this year we are going to make…

Mindset for Moms, Stay at Home Mothering

Get a Grasp on Gratitude: Mindset For Moms

July 21, 2014 by Bethany 19 Comments

I’ve talked a lot about gratitude here over the years. I credit focusing on gratitude as one of the ways…

Mindset for Moms, Stay at Home Mothering

Don’t Expect Kindness From Your Kids

June 23, 2014 by Bethany 23 Comments

I love that in her first line of this chapter Jamie acknowledges that on the face of it, this looks…

Five Minute Friday, Writing

Lonely But Not Alone

August 9, 2013 by Bethany No Comments

I don’t feel lonely as often as most people. I like being alone. It gives me time to do what…

Family, Five Minute Friday, Parenting, Writing

Five Minute Friday: In the Quiet After

April 5, 2013 by Bethany No Comments

After the children have gone to bed, the house seems quiet. Occasionally we hear sleepy moans and mumbles or little…

Parenting, Simple Living

What Children Really Need, Contrary to the Consumer Mentality

June 21, 2011 by Bethany No Comments

I was browsing some sale items on Target.com when an advertising slogan caught my eye: “Babies Need Lots of Stuff,…

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This girl! She just comes to life on stage. The la This girl! She just comes to life on stage. The last three months have been grueling for us all. (Hard work for her trying to learn all the songs, dances and lines and for us managing schedules and transport). 
She'd never done a musical before and it's been quite an experience. In the end, I know she's proud of what she and the rest of the cast accomplished. (And still has two more shows to go!)
So grateful to @chrysostomacademy for opening their doors to homeschoolers and giving her this chance to shine. 

#musicmanjr #chrysostomacademy #parenting #parentingteens #theaterkid #homeschoolkid #babygirlgrowingup
At least seven years, possibly longer. I've lost t At least seven years, possibly longer. I've lost track at this point. 
There is still tons more work to do but I'm officially done with my first full manuscript edit and ready to send this well loved (and sometimes hated) project off to my beta readers. 
Holding my breath and hoping it's as good as I hope and not as bad as I fear. 

#manuscript #firstedit #betareaders #actsofwives #amwriting #amediting #historicfiction #onwriting #amwriting #writerproblems #theendisnear #musedontfailmenow #writingonthego #writerslife #wordcount #80000strong
#justafewmorewords #honestyarns #author #writing #workingtitle #AuthorsOfInstagram #WritersOfInstagram #alwaysawriter
What does rest mean to you? I've always thought of What does rest mean to you?
I've always thought of rest as either physical rest (sleeping) or something like a vacation when there is a freedom from responsibilities. 
I'm taking some time off from work this week and it's harder than I thought it would be. I'm not actually going anywhere so the daily needs of the house and family remain. 
If anything those needs loom even larger because without my job taking priority I suddenly feel responsible and even guilty for all of the undone projects. 
There is a sense of panic about what my in-box might look like when I return, and the need to feel valuable at my job.
Perfectionism raises its ugly head as I try to figure out the ideal, most efficient way to spend my week. 
But instead of galvanizing and exciting me, it paralyzes me. 
All the usual things still need to happen (laundry, cooking and cleaning), my children are still here and my husband is still working his paying job. 
Perhaps what I need most is freedom for my mind and spirit. 
The freedom to not be in charge of everything. The freedom to let go of the outcome (even though it wasn't truly within my control to begin with.) 
While I have always tried to create some sort of Sabbath rest, I wonder if this is the part I'm the worst at. Because the responsibility of life and parenthood never takes a day off. The weight of responsibility for their present and future needs is palpable. Some days I can almost feel my body bend under the pressure. 
Except these children are not mine alone, they are given to me to steward. The same power that spoke the world into motion is at work in their lives too. There are good plans for their life that I have no knowledge of or responsibility for. 
I may not be able to take the week off from parenting but I can take a break from worry and strife. I can be present without having to be pressured to produce perfection, in myself or in them. 
Now I just need to take a deep breath, and begin. 

#honestyarns #sabbathmonday #parenting #sabbath #rest #timeoff #presentoverperfect #freedom #recoveringoverachiever #preventingburnout
The only thing better than having a garden is havi The only thing better than having a garden is having a friend with a bigger, better garden. ☺️ Especially one who lives out in the country and invites you to come harvest berries (and peas) during a heatwave and it's a good ten degrees cooler than at home. 
So grateful for a community of friends that continue to be part of our kids' lives and education in so many ways. Last night was the most relaxing, fun I've had in a while, especially considering this heat. 

#garden #gardenlife #harvestoffriends #berries #summer #summergarden #natureday #notaschoolday #alwayslearning #alwaysgrowing #communityeducation #communityhomeschooling #microfarm
In the last week this kid has turned 15, and finis In the last week this kid has turned 15, and finished her first year of high school. She's become more independent while still being very aware of the benefits of childhood dependence. She's strong and stubborn, funny and deep, delightful and exhausting. 
I see glimpses of possibility and hear whispers of intermittent competence. Most weeks I'm not even sure how I feel about her growing up and I'm for sure grateful that she is my first and not my last. 
But this week has mostly been the joy of milestones completed with cautious moments of optimism. 
They get older. The problems are different. There is still joy, there is still struggle. But we change too. Our shoulders grow stronger and our hands open wider. 
I'm not ready to let go, but I'm getting used to the idea. 

#thisis15 #babygirlgrows #growingup #rootstogrow #wingstofly #celebrate #endofyear #homeschoolyear #honestyarns #faithandfamily
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