Hi, I’m Rebecca. I write books and I write here at This Joyful Mess to inspire everyone to find JOY in the everyday messes of life. Here you’ll find inspiration, educational resources, and so much more. Please explore and connect—I’d love to hear from you!
The Most Insane Parenting Decision I Never Thought I’d Actually Make
I couldn’t pay my kids to go outside. They’d drag out of bed, take bowls of cereal to the family room where they’d watch TV followed by hours of begging for “screen time” while I battled our way through the morning’s schoolwork. Months of this, years of it. We fought this battle day after day until we made a dramatic decision and drastic change.
The Pandemic Nearly Destroyed My Kids. This Is How I’m Getting Them Back
I thought my 5 year old was watching a harmless YouTube video for kids. What he was really watching absolutely horrified me. The internet is fast becoming one of the scariest places on earth, especially for kids and their parents. Here is the first in a series on protecting children from online dangers.
Homeschooling and Hashimoto's Weirdness
I used to hate read-alouds. My neck would get tense, my throat would feel stiff and sore and my voice would hurt. (And if you say a voice cannot hurt, I assure you, it can.) Here's my story of how diagnosing and treating Hashimoto's changed my life in an unexpected way.
5 Things to Love About a Community Fundraising Garage Sale
Every year my parish holds a garage sale to raise funds for the VBS and Preschool programs. It has fast become one of my favorite events and helping at every stage, in my mind anyway, absolves me from taking part in the actual VBS. Anyhow, a sale of this size is a huge undertaking. Like crazy huge involving weeks and many, many, many hours from lots of people. But it's so worth it, and apart from the usual reasons about helping others and serving the community, here's why…
One of THOSE People
I'm becoming one of them. Those mamas with the cell phone poised, snapping low quality digital images. My kids (to post in Facebook), the coffee pot I might buy, so I can compare prices, the kids again. What fun!
I snickered at people like me...
Plaguing Starbucks Everywhere: Kidism
We've heard of racism and ageism, sexism and more, but over the weekend we experienced yet another "ism." It could be seen as a sort of reverse ageism, I suppose. It's nothing less than: "Kidism."
The Many Questions of Fish: Take Two
"Mom, hey Mama? Is it possible to make a giant robotic stuffed animal to help old people but then the makers make it turn EVIL?"