Last Sunday I wrestled through my church meeting with five children. This included a baby who woke up earlier than usual and was far past due for a nap, a three year old that had too much energy, two sisters wanting to argue for an hour straight, and an eight year old who kept […]
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Lost and Found: On Becoming A Mother
I have read more than enough articles in parenting magazines that have dealt with the topic of women feeling like they “lost their identity” when they became mothers. I’ve also overheard mothers say, “I feel like I lost a part of myself after motherhood” or “I just don’t know who I am, or remember who […]
Life Is Like Candyland
My family teaches me lessons beyond what I could possibly learn on my own. Today that teaching happened in the midst of a game of Candyland. Spencer and I played it for the first time this morning, and he had a great time singing about the colors, flipping the cards, pointing out the treats on […]
Better Together
There’s a song by Jack Johnson that says, “It’s always better when we’re together.” I know Jack was referring to the love of his life, but lately I’ve thought of this in terms of our sisterhood of women. I’ve noticed lately how much we women sometimes just do things on our own. Why do we […]
What Surprises Me About Being A Mom
I am utterly shocked at my confidence in motherhood…five years later. And three children. When my son was born I could barely put on his clothes. I knew I would break him. And his chicken legs were the smallest I’d seen. Wait, had I even held a newborn baby before? I was dumbfounded going to […]
My Summer Bucket List
I love love love summer. I am always a little flabbergasted when I talk to moms who dread summer. Usually it’s because they feel overwhelmed at the prospect of so much free time. They feel it’s a bit of a chore to keep their kids busy. But that’s why I like summer. I cast aside […]
What I Love About Moms
About three weeks ago, I’d about had it with the bickering, the mess, and the endless list of tasks. Sometimes it feels like motherhood is all work and no rewards (you’ve been there, right?). That afternoon, my nine- and seven-year-old daughters gave me an invitation to a “Love You Festival” at 4 o’clock in their […]
Cutting Corners
I recently attended a writing conference, and received some wonderful advice from philosophy professor and children’s book author Claudia Mills. I laughed when I heard it, but now it has become my mantra. It goes like this: “The key is cutting corners and having very low expectations.” Mills was talking specifically to writers about making […]
What I REALLY Want for Mother’s Day
I look back at past Mother’s Days and realize that what I usually want and expect is basically a day off. A day off from mothering. Ironic, isn’t it? I’ve decided to change that this year. What I’ve decided that I want more than anything is to somehow craft a day where I can […]
Watching With My Whole Eyes
I was in the middle of the frantic morning rush this morning, trying to actually respond to some emails and plan out my day when my 4-year-old, Charlie came in and demanded his ukulele. I was listening to some music and he wanted to put on a little rock concert. He kept asking me to […]
Two Sanity Saving Phrases
“Huh?” “What did you say?” “I didn’t hear you say that!” Sound familiar? If you have spent any time with children, these responses are probably all too common. When our oldest child Emma was a toddler, I found myself repeating what I had just said over and over again, driving myself insane. It was […]
Facing Your Fears
Can any mother ever forget that feeling of absolute panic the first time she was tipped out of her wheelchair into the big, wide world with an infant in her arms? Sheer terror. I remember looking around at the nurses and other hospital personnel, wondering if there wasn’t something else they needed to tell me, […]