When You’re Too Tired for Christmas
Christmas is in four days. My house is decorated. My kids are excited. And I am tired. This year has worn me out. 2015 has been a long, hard slog from January to December. Every time I thought we had...
View ArticleWhen You Don’t Know What to Do
I have this daughter. She’s 12. She’s smart. She’s funny. She’s compassionate. She’s stubborn. She’s challenging. She sees the world through a lens I don’t have and marches to a beat I don’t hear. And...
View ArticleEmbracing Your Season
The sun is shining, and it’s warm here today. We’re probably still in for some more cold weather, but it’s clear the seasons are changing. Spring is on its way. My writing in this space has been...
View ArticleA Birthday Prayer for My 13-Year-Old
My baby girl turned 13 yesterday. She’s officially a teenager. There’s something about having your youngest child enter her teens. Childhood in your house is officially over. You’ve got five years...
View ArticleMaking Sense of the Senseless
For the past two days, I’ve sat at my computer wanting to write, but not knowing what to say. I’m a writer. That’s what I do. That’s how I process things. That’s how I make sense of the world. But how...
View ArticleReflections on the First Day of School
It’s just me, my computer, my water bottle and the Olympics this morning. It’s quiet for the first time in three months. The dogs are taking some well-deserved naps. I’m catching up on some neglected...
View ArticleWhat Do We Tell Our Kids About the Election?
Usually, I love election year. I love to watch democracy at work, and I enjoy sharing a civics lesson or two with my kids. This year, my girls are 13 and 15. It’s a perfect time to have great...
View ArticleThe America That I Know
It’s election season, and I have been listening to the candidates talk. What I hear, makes me sad. Every candidate seems to point out the flaws and the terrible things about our country. It sounds...
View ArticleThe Quiet Kids
I’m the mom of a quiet kid. She’s the girl in class who knows the answers but rarely raises her hand. She’ll talk with you if you talk to her, but she’s not likely to speak up much otherwise. It takes...
View ArticleThe Power of No
This space has been pretty quiet for a while. It may seem like I fell off the map. In a way, I did. You see, the past 18 months or so have been pretty challenging. Over the course of those months we...
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