Letters to Everett: There is (lots of good) life after middle school
There isn’t much to love about the body change, social scene, and confusion that is part and parcel of that season of life when you sort of miss your action figures and Legos, but you dare not admit that to any of your friends.
Roll with it, baby (thank you, Steve Winwood)
Mother’s Day isn’t my favorite. But this weekend I made real progress, meaning I smiled a whole lot more and teared up a whole lot less. I was also proud of how we as Walden Walnuts rolled with the punches, because many moments that we had planned to go a certain way, well, they didn’t.
Letters to Eleanor: When you over-commit, fix it
Just because an invite isn’t extended doesn’t mean you can’t un-do it. Be considerate, but don’t be apologetic about doing what you need to do.
Letters to Everett: Mastering the Art of the Emotional Pivot
It’s not easy to shake off a bad mood – it’s an art. And an awesome life skill. Because stress triggers are part and parcel of everyday life. We both did it like a couple of bosses yesterday. Go us! Never stop growing :).
Not apologizing for the pretzel in the front seat
Now I can find the humor and fleeting sweetness in the messy moments of life with family. It’s not an indictment on any of us that our house isn’t Pottery Barn catalog clean, or that any of the things described herein are in stark contrast from the way family life is “supposed to be.”
Dear Mother’s Day, I don’t love you. Working on it.
If this day – and all the ceremonious tributes that surround it – isn’t your jam, I feel you. To help me get through all the feels about it, I crafted this rhyme-ish collection of heart thoughts.
A cutting flower garden for The Divine Miss E
We lost Miss E one year to the day on April 28th. As I plant and water and weed and hope and rush out back each day to check the cutting garden’s progress, my heart will be with her.
Letters to Eleanor: When you outgrow relationships (and you will), please do it with class
You won’t jive with everyone. Handle it with a cool head and a calm heart.
Owning what I’m not good at – and doing more of what I am!
I want to be the person who sends the cards. Alas, I’m the person who buys the cards, always with someone specific in mind, and then they go in the Pile of Good Intentions on my desk, until I move that stack to another stack (for the sake of organization, obvi and because the occasional…
Huey and the Blowfish? (These Are the Days You’ll Remember)
We’re all doing better at this parenting thing than we think we are.
Holy Saturday scenes from the Walmart Neighborhood Market
I’ve stopped beating myself up for the sins that my humanness can’t prevent me from doing. I do my best to be self-aware of them, and to ask for forgiveness when I oughtta, but I have stopped living in the shame spiral that characterized much of my first 40 some odd years.
Letters to Everett: Balancing grace with bullies
Welcome to the awkward-est stage of formal education – also known as middle school (basically hell).