Being a bonus Mom to my three stepkids has been a wild journey. I met them when they were 4, 5, and 10 and I wasn’t sure I even wanted kids back then. They are now 12, 13, and 17 and I can’t imagine life without them. Being able to see them grow and develop into their personalities has been by far the most amazing experience. I love them as fiercely as if they were my own and can’t wait to watch them with their youngest sibling who will be born within the next month!

That you will never regret pouring into your kids. I used to pour everything I had into my team and my career (college basketball coach) and have since learned that time with family is unrivaled. Making even the tiniest of memories can have a huge impact on your kids. All they truly desire is your time and attention and that costs nothing! I’m a big “family traditions” person and being able to introduce traditions to them and have them fall in love with them like I did is so fun to see.

Some of it we would invest into property so we can move out of town and have animals because the kids are dying to have that lifestyle (I had that lifestyle as a child). And then the rest we would put into either savings accounts or other investment accounts where it can grow in value over time so the kids can have it when they are adults.