I don’t know if I’m supposed to be telling you this. Probably not. Maybe so. I know the arguments on both sides about airing your kid’s business, but if I’m going to be real here – in the space that is mine that I pay for where I am able to clear my head and…
The Toenails We Lose for Our Children
“Thank you for not being in a bad mood today,” my oldest son yelled to me from the front porch this afternoon. I was at the curb unloading backpacks and one kitchen-sized garbage bag full of trash from the car. “Huh?” I asked him. “What are you talking about?” “I just wanted you to know…
Lifeguard Training
My daughter is growing up. I sat at her swim lesson this week with a book, but ended up just watching her through the glass. It is unbelievable. She is the kid I never thought she would be. When I am with her, watching her from afar do something on her own, I try to…
You’re Missing It
One morning recently, I was drinking coffee alone and enjoying the quiet when my daughter Ellie came in and asked me for some ice water. Regular water just won’t do for her anymore; she turns her nose up unless she can hear the ice clanging around in the cup. I got up and pulled a…
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
The Tooth Fairy forgot to come to our house on last Sunday night. Jack, my oldest, lost a tooth when we were at his grandparents’ house in Tulsa that morning, and by that night, our family was back at home in Little Rock. When Jack woke up on Monday morning and his tooth was still…
Success
My husband was asked to speak at my son’s elementary school this year for career day. I was a little jealous that what I do all day every day is nothing that anyone wants to hear about, especially kids, but also wondered how many kindergarteners would care to hear from a guy in a stuffy…
Anxiety + Hope
“Don’t you have a kid with something wrong with it?” I was asked this week by a person I hadn’t seen in a while.
I wanted to roll my eyes and leave while waving my middle finger in the air, but I caught myself.
Little Girl Hearts
“Do lizards have hearts?” My youngest kid is very curious about the most random things, and so the “yes” I said in reply came out with a smidge of apprehension. I never know what follow ups will come next from him. Turns out, the questions were pretty easy to answer: “Do buildings have hearts?”…
The Platinum Rule
I have knowledge of many things, but none of that knowledge is deep. I am used to using elementary language to settle battles and am constantly strategizing to stay one step ahead of the small tyrants around me who fight to rule the world, but I seem to find myself running step behind the rest…
typically not typical 