Categories Archives
in Family
What Does Rest Really Look Like?
The other day a friend texted me with a question: If you could have a perfectly restful day, what would it look like?
My initial reaction was to say something flippant like: “Sleep in all day with no one saying the word, “Mama!”.” Or perhaps, “Binge watch Netflix for six hours without a whiff of guilt.”
But ...
When Opposites Say, “I Do”
The husband and I just celebrated our 15th anniversary. Fifteen!
To celebrate the occasion, I'm recycling a post about marriage that I wrote five years ago. Much of what I shared remains the same, although I did add and edit a few points. I hope some of this resonates with you, makes you laugh and, perhaps ...
Raise Your Kids So They’re Not Self-Reliant
Did you do a double-take when you read the title of this article? I wouldn’t blame you. It’s an odd title. It unhinges some of our core beliefs about how to raise our kids. After all, how can it be wrong to teach our kids to stand on their own feet?
As a mom of two middle schoolers, ...
Does Your Face Light Up?
A Letter To My Daughter Inspired By Toni Morrison
Hey sweet girl,
We’ve been at home together a long while now. Inseparable almost - and not always by choice. Lessons have been canceled, birthday parties are on Zoom, church is on Facebook, and school online.
In our packed-like-sardines situation, I ask myself the question that the brilliant Toni ...
“If I Were President …” Life Lessons from a Kindergartener
You’re looking at a paper cut-out silhouette of my son when he was in Kindergarten. Below his profile are the wise (and hard-to-decipher) words of my then five-year-old. Let me help you with the mommy translation: If I were President I would “work hard at cleaning my room.”
The boy is 12 years old now. His ...
This Middle Part of Childhood is Just as Good
Hey kids,
I love where you’re at right now.
Like, right this moment.
No, it’s not because both of you are tucked in bed, the sweetness of sleep wrapping you up like a down comforter.
It just quietly dawned on me that this stage in your lives is incredibly fun. In a few months, one of you will be ...
9 Ways to Create the Best Father’s Day for Your Man
It has an uncanny knack of sneaking up on you. Like heartburn after biriyani. Father’s Day seems to pop up before you’re even done recovering Mother’s Day “brunch” (i.e. toast and OJ in bed courtesy chefs under four foot high).
Wives and kids everywhere are scrambling for last-minute gifts. Will dad end up with another well-intentioned tie?
Or ...
Confessions of a Chronic Complainer
When the editors at a website to which I contribute posted a ‘Month of No Complaining’ challenge, I signed up without missing a beat.
After all, I’m a grateful person, I thought. I’m not a compulsive complainer, I thought. It can’t be THAT hard, I thought.
After completing a month of the experiment, let’s just say there was ...
We Can’t Look The Other Way
He had his in hands in his pockets.
That usually signifies the casual, the nonchalant, the carefree.
That doesn’t usually signify hate, crime, or murder.
And yet while the police officer pinned George Floyd down with his knee bearing down on his neck, he casually put his hands in his pockets. Like he was taking a stroll. Like ...
MEET SUSAN
