Lately, I’ve been feeling a little stumped for content here. I’ve been blogging for over 10 years, and sometimes I wonder if I’ve said it all. Of course, that can’t be true, because my life 10 years ago was very different from my life now. But, nonetheless, I often find myself staring at my blog and wondering what I should write about that would actually be useful to my readers.
So…
My dear readers, what do YOU want to see here on Raising Arrows?
What would be useful, helpful content for you to read about?
What parts of my day have you wondered about?
What photos, systems, lists, and how-to’s would you like to have me share here?
Would you like more audio or video content? More downloadable material? More of something I haven’t thought of? 😉
Feel free to comment here on the site or email me privately at amy at raising arrows dot net.
I look forward to hearing from you and serving you better via this blog!
Mrs. Fischer says
I would love to hear more about the Bible studies etc you use. I am struggling with finding Christian content for my family that is really applicable to everyday life.
Peta says
Hi Amy! I’d love advice and encouragement for mums with all little ones! Like getting cooking done, laundry, getting out the house, beginning home school etc. I have a 9 week old baby girl and 4 other precious ones; 2 boys and 2 girls aged 5 and 6 and 3 and 22 months. Blessings, Peta
Korie says
I agree with Peta! Since you are a seasoned mother of many, I love hearing encouragement and ideas about how to thrive during the all littles stage!
Jen Holm says
I third that. I feel like us mothers with all littles and no bigs are always drooling at the mouth for tips and mostly encouragement and something to uplift our sleepy selves.
HeatherHH says
Spiritual lessons learned as a mom would be on interest to me, as would teachable moments with your children. But, I enjoy most of what you post. I skip over audio and video content, so definitely no interest in seeing those increase. I prefer to read in part because it’s much faster for me, and more easily done in small bits.
S.T. says
I love your blog but don’t really like the audio and/or video content, either.
Karyn says
My oldest turned 13 recently so I would like to hear more about raising teens…..how to homeschool, how to prepare them for adulthood, how to deal with dating/courting/marriage prep, preparing for college or vocation (I know you have some posts that deal with these issues but I would like to soak up more of your ideas/thoughts!). Also, how do you deal with kid friendships? That is, I feel like my kids should have friends aside from their siblings but it’s really hard to keep up with get-togethers and also deciding how to handle them going to other people’s houses (we live in a rural place so there isn’t a neighborhood kid situation). Finally, I would like to hear about how you handle your friendships. I’m finding that as I keep having children (all my friends are “done”) and as we continue to homeschool, I’m having a hard time “keeping up” — I don’t have the time to go out like they do or to keep up with the friendships. Finally, how do you handle getting one-on-one time with each kid and with your husband (I know you have addressed some of this before too).
Thank you for your writing — it’s been so helpful and inspiring through the years!
Chantel says
I second most all of Karen’s comment for topic ideas! I have recently found especially helpful your post on guidelines for how your family decides what extracurricular activities to be involved in. My oldest is 9 with 4 younger siblings so far and I am really starting to feel that my husband and I need to create our own questions to ask when deciding on outside activities. Your list is a great starting point for us and I appreciate your sharing it!
Also, I’d love to hear more about managing family relationships and what you do if a child is resistant to homeschooling and expresses interest in going to school (if this is something you’ve ever encountered). We have homeschooled all the way through so far, but are the only ones at our congregation who do so. I am concerned that as our children grow older, they will have a lot of peer pressure in regard to schooling just from other kids at our church. Also, do you and your husband allow your teenagers to participate in a lot of youth group type activities with your church? How do you manage those sorts of things? Just run them through your list of questions for choosing extracurricular activities?
Thanks so much for taking time to share your perspective and advice on this blog! It is a great help and encouragement!
Jodie says
Ditto. This reply about covers it for me too. Also, though, how to deal with conflicting personalities with siblings. I’m currently struggling with my 8 and 5 years old boys who share a room with one other. They clash constantly and like to annoy each other, yet there is really no room to shift one of them out.
With regard to audio and video content, I probably prefer blog posts as they are easier to read with interruptions but, having said that, I do enjoy your videos when I can get a moments peace.
Karyn says
I’m probably the same with the blog posts. If I try to listen to a video, the kids automatically run over to the computer. With blog posts, I can read snippets and/or refer back to it as needed.
Chantel says
I agree that I prefer the written posts over video/audio content. It does draw less attention from any children who are around at the time.
Anne-Laure says
me too!
Charlotte Moore says
I love reading about your family. Whatever you feel like sharing is fine.
Tamara says
Are you still doing Trim Healthy Mama?
Linda Ash says
We don’t have a large family, but love all your articles. I especially appreciated the one on guiding your daughter with her make-up. Maybe throw in more about the older kids, as that is the stage some of us have gotten to.
BABYCHAser says
I’d love some examples of how you handle managing multiple relationships at one time and or disobedience/ children needing correcting at the same time. Sometimes I feel like I’m a revolving door of managing relationships and correcting children with my six children 9 years to 9 months old and that’s fine. It’s the job. Other times it seems like multiple relationships need to be managed while multiple little ones needed correction. That’s when I stay losing patience. 🙂 I have an idea of what I’m “supposed to do”, but I’d love occasional peeks into how another mom handles it all.
tanya hyland says
How about helping siblings get along….. my kids are constantly fighting. How do your kids all get along?
Lea says
I’d love an update about your skirts/modesty and why it changed 😉
Dani says
I *think* you have a youtube channel. I liked when you did videos. So, more videos. 🙂
Amy says
I don’t know why my blog changes smiley faces to ? marks! I do have a YouTube channel and have been trying to post there more regularly. Sometimes I embed them in a post, and sometimes I don’t, but you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6PyB9G1Ym5Nz2QVLhxB_KQ
Suanna says
I enjoy reading about your day to day life. I can always use encouragement in the Managing a home with many members. Seeing how you relate with and help your teens grow into young adults would be useful. I don’t usually listen to audios or watch videos, but I have occasionally watched yours. I enjoy your homeschooling tips and peeks into the curriculums that are working for you. I’m struggling with how to teach and keep interruptions to a minumum as well as the extreme noise in a house with many people.
Christa says
We are moving into homeschooling highschool and would love to hear more about your experiences with highschool and homeschooling teenagers.
Mary_B says
You may have covered it but how do you handle birthday parties and gift giving/receiving? Does each kid get a party each year, do you do joint parties, just family celebrations, or something else? For the first time I am planning two birthday parties that are less than two weeks apart (the kids didn’t want to combine parties like they usually do) and even though I’m keeping things simple it’s still a lot of work! It’s only going to get crazier with more kids who are old enough for parties!
Diana says
I love everything you have to say! With my own blog, I’ve noticed that my posting frequency really goes up and down according to my life events. If you find that you need to blog less often, don’t worry about it! I imagine there will be lots of seasons of more or less blogging, and more or less inspiration. In looking at your family, I see that you have TONS that we readers would like to know about – teens, large family, mixed ages, etc. – and you’re also on the brink of a whole flood of new life experiences that I would love to hear about – having a child in college, having children with jobs, adult children, maybe even becoming a mother-in-law and/or grandmother within the next decade. 🙂 So I think you’ll probably find lots to blog about if you desire to!
Of course, sometimes the passion for blogging about a particular subject simply fades over time, or morphs into a new subject. That’s something that only you would know about.
For myself, I am interested in anything that comes from your own experience that pertains to parenting, family, homemaking, childbearing, pregnancy, etc. I’m afraid that I’m not interested in products, e-books, bundles, product reviews, or anything like that. However, I also know that that’s how bloggers make a profit, and that you have to do those things – I understand!! I’m not personally into videos, because I’m always speed-reading in off-moments, and I can’t speed-watch videos. 🙂 But I know that lots of women love those, so that might be fun for you! Audio is also fun for women who like to listen to shows. You could start doing Q&A again, either written out or in an audio show.
Your blog has been a HUGE blessing. I have so many of your posts printed off to re-read in my notebooks. Even if you never wrote another word, you have impacted thousands of women for the Lord! 🙂
Amy says
Diana – I totally agree with your sentiments! I have been in some “off” portions of my journey for a couple of years now. Some very difficult things I could not put words to. And life circumstances have been rather crazy during that time as well. Some things I simply cannot talk about on here until they are over, and well…some of those things aren’t quite over. Honestly, sometimes I fear being “too” candid – what if the trolls come out to get me, what if people misunderstand me, what if…well…you know how it is. Thankfully, the Lord has always sustained me and my family, so I should probably just continue to seek and trust, huh?
Diana says
Boy, do I know about that. Some of the deepest things of my life/parenting journey are things that I simply don’t trust to put out there on the web. Partly is because they are SO incredibly personal and private. And partly because I have – through viewing the plight of other bloggers – seen the deep, deep evil that exists out on the web in the form of trolls and their desire to hurt people. For the sake of our families, we have to be circumspect about what we share. For your real readers, I know that “being real” is often so helpful, but it’s so hard to find that balance.
Again, your blog is a huge blessing. Take heart, whatever you share, we really do appreciate!! And we totally understand that there are parts of your journey that you will not, or cannot, choose to share. 🙂
Samantha Hatcher says
It is your honesty that has helped me the most. It has kept me from feeling alone. You are amazing and I’m so thankful to have you as part of my life, even only in blog form.
Tamara says
I have a 15-year-old daughter and want to know how to help guide her ~ I love hearing about your oldest daughter and how you are doing things with her! 🙂 (By the way, I love reading what you write!) 🙂
Purplecandy says
I would love more large family hacks and parenting tips 🙂
kaci says
More on homeschooling through high school? A follow up on whole family cooking experiment?
Ellie says
Hi – so I was just thinking today I would love to see a video of some one living there life.. a real LIVE video of a NORMAL bed time routine with a large family, a normal real life video of your morning breakfast and clean up routine and then home school. Maybe no one is willing to be that open – ha ha . Or it puts to much pressure , and i understand that. But i feel i learn so well from watching. Things can get crazy here so fast, and bed times easily turns from 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm and i am constantly feeling like time is slipping away from me. (I have only 5 kids – compared to your bundle of blessings) also laundry how in the world do you keep up with it.?? when do you rest? like be alone ? that last time that happen to me was 2 months ago.. i am talking about being alone out of the house with no kids. so those are my ideas for you. 🙂 Blessings from a tired Mom who loves her family but always feeling like I am failing because I am always behind on everything.
Nola says
I would like to see more about how your days go, what systems you use, how you clean, organize, run your household and homeschooling, etc.
mreeanne says
I am a big fan of your blog. My personal favorite posts are ones showing what fun stuff you do as a family and ones about homeschooling elementary and middle school ages bc that’s what I have.
Kat says
Reading your post and comments about church, I’d love to hear how you guys are able to interact and outreach. As a mom of littles, I sometimes find it hard to get out the front door let alone share gospel. A lot of my friends say the connections come more naturally once the kids hit school, but how does it work to be gospel-spreaders when you homeschool?
Amy says
Until this recent move, we hadn’t had a lot of difficulty making connections, but for some reason, this move was different. We are hoping to become more involved in events the church has for families and meet people that way. In the past, we’ve met people through church, Scouts, and through various connections within the community. Here, that has been much harder. You might look for a homeschool mom’s group that meets at a park or something like that that would get you connected better. (as long as that doesn’t stress you out too much 😉 )
Hollye Long says
How you deal with illness (including vaccines), well checks and managing doctor visits. Also, please tell me how/when do you find time for quiet time/personal bible study? I struggle with this. I’m exhausted at night and early morning is often ruined by no sleep or kids waking up early.
Amy says
I would like some posts on letting God choose your family size and if you have any worries about risks when you are an older mom. I am a year or two older than you and we would like to have another child. I am trusting God. I see lots of moms of many, and lots of moms having babies later in life but looking for encouragement from those with both situations!
Tina says
Hallo! I would like some tips on having more peacefull evenings. We eat at 7:30 and then the rest of the evening is all filled with washing dishes and bathing the kids until we go to bed at 9:30. My husband would like it very much if we could just sit on the couch and relax together for at leasr a lttle while in the evenings before bedtime. By the time the kids are in bed we are to tired ourselves.
Samantha Hatcher says
There are days that I’m just DONE! I just want to go hide in my room and be left alone. How do you handle the hard days and keep your sanity? How do you handle the hard days and still be who God has called you to be?