My mom texted me a video a few days ago featuring a poem about an 80-year-old woman who wakes up to find herself magically back in her 38-year-old body, living one day in her 38-year-old life. She sees her younger body and her small children differently, with the perspective of someone who already knows how … Continue reading Mysterious Beach
Parenting
Choose Your Heaven
What if Heaven is a moment, captured, that we can stay in forever? What if Hell is a moment, captured, that we cannot bear to leave? What if Heaven and Hell are just moments, Happening all around us all the time? What if Heaven is the moment that held our greatest love, and Hell the … Continue reading Choose Your Heaven
While We Are Here
I will not have my husband forever. I know this. It hurts my heart but I know this. One day he will be gone. A few years older than I. maybe soon— a car crash, an aneurysm, or decades from now, if grace is kind. But some day I will have to re-learn the shape … Continue reading While We Are Here
Whispers
I don’t know if I believe in reincarnationbut in a way, I find it terrifying -in my darkest moments, with no comfort to be found in believing that, at least some day, all of this will end. Unlearned lessons cannot be left behind,when I shuffle off this mortal coil - no; they will be there, waiting, … Continue reading Whispers
Light Through the Cracks
As a perfectionist, I put a lot of pressure on myself. A completed project could always be done better, a piano piece practiced more, a meal better cooked. As someone who has lived with perfectionism for a lifetime, it goes without saying that I’ve always seen mistakes that I've made as bad – signs that … Continue reading Light Through the Cracks
Church Camp
I think I speak for all parents of school-aged children when I say that summer is the absolute worst. I personally spent the first 5 years of each of my kids' lives waiting for them to be old enough to attend public school, thus cutting down the daycare bill. The first day that all three … Continue reading Church Camp
Jeff! I Love That Guy!
My kids are weird. I mean, all kids are weird. But my twin boys are really weird sometimes (so is my daughter, but that's a subject for another day). Interacting with my sons is like finding out there's an entire conversation going on that I was completely unaware of (and sometimes that is literally what … Continue reading Jeff! I Love That Guy!
The Weight We Carry
Originally written in 2020 I took the kids to the park yesterday and was looking forward to just checking out on my phone while they played. And then, 10 minutes after arriving, I was spotted by someone I had worked with years ago. As it turns out, she lives not far from me, and had … Continue reading The Weight We Carry
The Great Recorder Incident of 2022
In what can only be described as an obvious and unmistakable act of war, Michael brought home a recorder and gave it to Rebecca this afternoon. The shrieks, squawks, and squeals started long before the recorder was actually out of its packaging. Our daughter, when excited, has the vocal capacity to imitate what I can … Continue reading The Great Recorder Incident of 2022
The Pop-Tart Dilemma
There's a weird paradox I deal with as a parent, that nobody ever told me I would need to think about. And yet, I do constantly. It literally comes up every day. Sometimes multiple times a day. In a nutshell, it's this: I've realized that while my main goal as a (hopefully) good parent is … Continue reading The Pop-Tart Dilemma
Pocket Sized 