Category: Relationships

It's Great To Be Decent

Relationship Killer: 6 Deadly Sins of a Military Spouse

Married to or thinking of a future with a military member? 6 deadly sins for military spouses can be a real relationship killer! Go into your relationship knowing where some traps lay to avoid them. Relationship Killer #1: Adultery Let’s be brutally honest here: adultery is almost part of the military culture and an absolute…
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Dad

My Amazing Father: The Original Decent Dad

One of my biggest blessings in life has been my father. There is nothing better than a Decent Dad. I’ve always had a deep respect and love for my Dad. My earliest memory is when my Dad came back from a year-long hardship tour in Korea. We were at my Grandma’s house and we were…
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adoption

Adoption Cancelled: Big Changes To Our Home

We canceled the adoption of our niece, Rana. It’s taken me a long time to decide whether to not to post this. It’s personal and if I write about it, how much can I write without offending family or putting too much out there? I’ve decided that since this is my website and it’s essentially…
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matters

Improvement Is The Key To Everything No Matter How Small: Start Today

When you have kids your focus seems to pinpoint. Things that you never paid much attention to seem insanely important. When it’s an infant you quickly learn that your home is full of danger and needs improvement. Toddlers make the rest of the world seem like a minefield, and every day that your child survives…
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Writing The Decent Mom: What I Share with Sarah Ban Breathnach

Writing another article for The Decent Mom has been on my mind for weeks now. Inspiration finally struck me as I listened to Oprah interview Sarah Ban Breathnach. The interview is great. Love or hate Oprah, her interviewing skills are beyond reproach and her Super Soul Conversations never fail to impress. Ban Breathnach’s genius book, Simple Abundance,…
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Kids

Unplanned Adoption: A Course in Advanced Parenting Skills

On December 5th of 2017, I received a phone call that would change my family’s life forever. My sister-in-law had unexpectantly passed away sometime during the night. She was only 39 years old and had 3 kids without fathers.  The kids needed someone to step into parental roles immediately. Meet the kids Dawn, age 18 Dawn…
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Over and Over Again: The Decent Mom Returns!

I’ve been missing The Decent Mom, have you? If you’ve been wondering where I fell off too…life happened, as it always does. Things got intensely busy in the fall when I started taking college classes. Then my sister-in-law passed away suddenly, which led to our adopting our beautiful niece. It’s just been insane! Things are…
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For You: Dear Struggling Teenager…I see you.

Dear Teenager, I get it.  Those jerks at school just keep on pushing and don’t know when to back off. I don’t know why they target you, because you really are a good kid. Your parents aren’t who you need them to be either. Either they are crazy strict and don’t let you breathe…or they are…
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Dear Genevieve Cortese,

I’m a huge supporter of both you and your husband, Jared (Padalecki), and feel like we have a few really substantial things in common. What Could I have in common with genevieve? My husband constantly goes out of town for work. While my husband serves in the Air Force, yours goes out of country and…
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Dear Husband: If I Die First

I read an article on Scary Mommy today that really hit a nerve with me. The author details how she would want her husband to raise their three daughters if she were to die first. Since my anxiety has often focused on “if I die first”, of course I read it…ready to nod my head…
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