Ashley
Ashley Ashcraft has spent the majority of her life in North Texas. Born in Dallas, she attended Concordia University of Texas in Austin for an undergraduate degree and spent her mid-20’s in beautiful, easy-going Hawaii where she taught at a high school and obtained a masters of education in educational foundations from the University of Hawaii. The birth of her first daughter, now seven years old, brought her and her husband back to Texas and to family. Since then, they’ve added two more girls and a boy to the mix. Ashley now teaches at Prince of Peace Christian School in Carrollton (Go Eagles!) and has learned it takes a village and a lot of grace to be a wife, mom of four, teacher, and avid Eagle fan. In the evenings you can usually find her supporting Eagles’ sports, trying to keep up with laundry, coaxing her kids to eat meat, or enjoying time out in the neighborhood with her wonderful neighbors. Ashley is not an expert mom, but she’s surrounded by an amazing tribe of women that help her to be the best mom and wife possible. She recently started blogging at As You Do Life and you can also find her on Twitter @AshleyAshcraft .
Failure Resume: Why You Might Need One
Growing up, I worked really hard to avoid failure. I put tremendous pressure on myself to make all A’s, lead clubs, play on athletic teams, and generally make everyone happy. It was a recipe for disaster that my parents tried...
“Try Again, Please” :: An Alternative to “Cancel Culture”
A couple of years ago I observed a fellow mom say three words that changed my parenting style.
I don’t actually remember the exact exchange between her and her very young daughter, but I remember my...
5 Must-Haves for Camping with Kids
We first camped as a family when our youngest was five months old. We borrowed a tent and I think I slept 10 minutes the entire night. The next morning we packed up and...
Love as a Verb: How to Change a Feeling into Action
When I was a child, I thought love was a noun.
It was abstract and somewhat nebulous. A feeling. It’s what all the characters in my childhood movies sought and found.
I based a lot of...
I Measure Time Differently Now
I love listening to my preschooler talk about time. She often tells me about how she’s going to clean up her room "yesterday tomorrow" and she also asks me if I remember a place...
Parenting Perspective :: Transactional or Transformational?
I heard a groan from my oldest daughter at the kitchen table as she went through the papers from her backpack.
“What’s wrong?” I asked from the kitchen.
“I got a terrible grade on this,” she...
My Kids Can’t Live in a Bubble
All things considered, I distracted my daughters from the unfolding scene fairly well. As I gestured to bins of dollar items, a struggle unfolded at the automatic doors just 30 feet from where we...
Holiday Hack: A Charcuterie Table
My husband and I love hosting people at our house, but making delicious food is not one of our talents. Don’t get me wrong, people usually leave our house full, but they rarely ask...