Photo: MOPS Brazil 2019 I was new to the Denver area with a three-year-old and a newborn. My family lived an hour away, but honestly, some days it felt like the moon as I was learning to navigate being a …
How IKEA Made Me Want to Go to Church
Like many churchgoing couples who become parents, we stopped attending services after the birth of our first daughter. We couldn’t figure out how to make it work while our infant was taking four naps a day; and any time we …
Unicorn on the Mantle
There is an antique golden unicorn on the mantle of my fireplace. If you look close, you can see the web of fracture lines held together with super glue. One leg has a meandering line held together all the way …
Open Letter to My Kids: You Are the Generation
Dear Joseph, Elle and Charlotte, Last week a radio host asked me in an interview to make a political statement about the state of the world and how difficult it is to raise kids in this current cultural climate. My …
But I’m Not That Mom
But I’m not THAT mom! kept running through my head. I don’t do smocked dresses or big hair bows. I don’t sew. I barely brush my children’s hair. How can I be a “girl mom” when I’m not even that …
Why Your Story Matters, Mama
After my recent article in the Huffington Post about motherhood loneliness, a few moms wrote to me, “It feels like you are writing exactly about me, about my child.” My reply? My writing isn’t fueled simply by my own motherhood …
Be Kind to Your Four-Footed Friends
A verse from a nature song that my children like to listen to says: “Be kind to your four-footed friends, Be kind to your four-footed friends, A poke makes a turtle retreat at both ends, And you can’t make a …
When Proximity Dilutes Kindness
Consistency. This is an attribute that has eluded me the first nearly four decades of my life. My husband on the other hand, wears it like a fine Italian suit. He is consistently kind, consistently generous and consistently present, and …
Marked With Empathy
I was a history major in college. The way the world has arrived at the place it is now, the causes and effects, the victors and the victims, the passive people and the active, their environments and thoughts and words, …
Call for Submissions: Your MOPS Story
Moms are a tribe of women brought together with the goal of loving and nurturing the next generation. At MOPS, our goal is to create a space for this kindred group to share and learn alongside one another. MOPS brings …