There she is. Running after her toddler or kissing away a boo-boo or looking like she hasn’t slept in weeks. There she is rocking the baby until her arms are numb, playing puzzles on the floor, eating leftovers because she …
5 Things Kids Need From Parents
“You cut off the crusts?” He looks up at me like I am the first star in the evening sky, as though he said his star-light-star-bright rhyme and got his wish. “I has to tell you, you are an excellent …
“What’s Wrong With That Boy?” 6 Tips for Talking to Your Kids About Disabilities
“Daddy, what’s wrong with that boy?” the little girl asked. I knew she noticed my son Joey, an amazing little boy who just happens to have Down syndrome. He also developed alopecia a few years ago, leaving him with no …
The Importance of Banter With Young Children
Banter, or informal and spontaneous chatting, gossiping, joking and storytelling, can be incredibly beneficial for young children. Researchers Betty Hart and Todd Risley found that daily exchanges between a parent and a child shape language and vocabulary development. Informal talking with children …
The Rhythm of Rest
When my twins were first born and they would miraculously nap simultaneously, I would lie down on the couch with a spoonful of peanut butter in one hand and the remote in the other and watch reruns of Dawson’s Creek. …
In Pursuit of Quiet
I have four children, a husband and a puppy in the house. I don’t really understand the concept of alone time in this season of my life. So unless you count two o’clock in the morning, the thought of carving …
Addiction Is the Opposite of Rest
Are your particular restful endeavors truly restorative or possibly life-draining? When we repeat the same behaviors over and over, our brains strengthen the neural pathways associated with those activities. In time they become the easiest go-to, slickest routes of least-resistance …
Helping Young Children to Rest
Whether your child never sits still, like mine, or is naturally calm and quiet, it can be difficult to teach rest. Sometimes it seems that little ones only rest when they sleep. However, with some experimentation and creativity, there are …
My Husband Chose Porn and Other Women: Now What … ?
When I married my husband Jason, I believed that he only had eyes for me. Deep down, I felt chosen. Chosen by him to do this thing we call life. Together. Forever. My dream slowly started to crumble when I …
Choose Vulnerability
Vulnerability: one of life’s most radical opportunities for immense failure or intense joy. Relationships allow us a choice: to enter in with all that we are, or to cautiously hold ourselves at bay. Subconsciously, or maybe consciously, we evaluate others. Are …